THE Myanmar Traditional Medicine Practitioner Association plans to expand its educational courses about the medicinal effects of vegetables to teach housewives how to use them to relieve ailments, said Daw Tin Nwe Oo, the president of the association’s Traditional Medicine Health Education Committee.

She said the association plans to offer the courses in rural areas throughout Myanmar.

“We’ve held the courses in nearly all townships in Yangon Division since 1996 in collaboration with local non-government organisa-tions to teach housewives how to use vegetables, plants and spices as medicines in emergency cases,” she said.

She said the knowledge can help housewives provide first aid to injured people to stabilise them before they go to the hospital, as well as to deal with minor health problems such as headaches, cuts, coughs and tooth pain.

“The course also teaches which foods to eat and which to avoid depending on the season and on what kind of disease a person has,” Daw Tin Nwe Oo said, adding that students are also taught about the medicinal effects of plants that can be found growing in their areas.

“Basic knowledge of traditional medicines and the benefits are eating a wide range of foods are also covered in the course,” she said.

Daw Tin Nwe Oo said the course also teaches housewives to cook nutritious, healthy foods.

“People need to know that food can be medicine as well as poison,” she said.