PAAM demands separate ministry for Alternative Medicine sector

Lahore – The Pakistan Association of Alternative Medicine (PAAM) has expressed strong condemnation regarding the historic 130 billion PKR cut in the 2026-27 health budget, particularly criticizing the complete exclusion of the Homoeopathic and Tibb (Unani) sectors from financial allocations.

PAAM President, Muhammad Kashif Aslam Malik, termed this move a “brutal mockery” of the health sector, stating that failing to allocate a single penny for alternative medicine within a total budget of 500.62 billion PKR is clear evidence that the Health Department is deliberately attempting to marginalise a field upon which a vast segment of the population relies for affordable healthcare.

He demanded an immediate end to this discriminatory, “step-motherly” treatment and insisted that a fair share of the budget be allocated to the alternative sector. Reiterating his “One Point Agenda,” Mr. Malik emphasized that the current situation proves that as long as Alternative Medicine lacks its own “separate ministry,” the sector will continue to be sidelined in policy-making and resource distribution.

The PAAM President warned that Homoeopaths and Hakims are now united on a single platform, and if the government does not address this legitimate demand, alternative medicine practitioners will be forced to expand the scope of their protests nationwide to protect their rights and the survival of the profession.