22/12/2025

MONDAY | DEC 22, 2025

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HEALTH

Studying ancient cures T HE World Health Organisation (WHO) opened a major conference on traditional medicine last o WHO seeks evidence for traditional medicine lacking access to essential health services, traditional medicine is often the closest – or only care – available for many people,” she said. treatment artemisinin as drawing on ancient Chinese medicinal texts.

A CT scan that takes as little as a second to capture detailed images is now a reality in Malaysia, following the launch of the country’s first photon counting CT scanner at Sunway Medical Centre. The next-generation imaging system, introduced in collaboration with Siemens Healthineers, marks a major leap in diagnostic technology by delivering ultra-high-resolution images at significantly lower radiation doses. Designed to improve both accuracy and patient comfort, the scanner supports a wide range of clinical applications including cardiology, neurology, oncology, musculoskeletal, paediatric and pulmonology cases. Unlike conventional CT scanners, photon-counting CT technology detects and measures individual X-ray photons, producing images that are sharper and more detailed. This allows for more confident diagnoses while reducing radiation exposure for patients, as clinicians get to detect micro-lesions, identify subtle tissue differences and assess organ structures with greater clarity. The faster scan times also mean shorter appointments and less discomfort, particularly for those who require repeated imaging, elderly patients and children. By combining speed with precision, the technology Wednesday, arguing that new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can bring scientific scrutiny to centuries-old healing practices. The meeting in New Delhi examined how governments can use new scientific tools to validate safe and effective treatments, while regulating traditional medicine. The UN body hopes this push will help make modern healthcare systems and ancestral practices compatible. “There is a growing demand for traditional medicine across cultures, countries, and comunities. Traditional medicine is not a thing of the past,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a video released ahead of the three day conference. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his own message, said the summit would “intensify efforts to harness” the potential of traditional medicine. Narendra is a longtime advocate of yoga and traditional health practices and has backed WHO’s global centre for traditional medicine, launched in 2022 in his home state of Gujarat. Shyama Kuruvilla, the head of the centre said reliance on traditional remedies was “a global reality”, noting that 40%–90% of populations in 90% of WHO member states relied on traditional medicines. “With half the world’s population Ű BY ASHIQIN AHMAD

‘Frontier science’ “It is a huge, huge opportunity – and the medical industry has realised this,” Shyama said. Rapid technological advancements has pushed research to a “tipping point”, to apply scientific rigour to traditional remedies. The WHO will also launch what it calls the world’s largest digital repository of research on the subject – a library of 1.6 million scientific records intended to strengthen evidence and improve knowledge-sharing. Dr Sylvie Briand, WHO’s chief scientist, said AI can assist in analysing drug interactions. “AI, for instance, can screen millions of compounds, helping us understand the complex structure of herbal products and extract relevant constituents to maximise benefit and minimise adverse effects,” she told reporters ahead of the conference. Briand said advanced imaging technologies, including brain scans, were shedding light on how the body is affected by practices such as acupuncture and meditation. Shyama said she was excited by the possibilities. “It is the frontier science that’s allowing us to make this bridge, connecting the future and the past,” she said. – AFP

‘Evidence-informed’ The UN agency defines traditional medicines as the accumulated knowledge, skills and practices used over time to prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness while maintaining health. But many lack proven scientific value, while conservationists warn that demand for certain products drives trafficking in endangered wildlife including pangolins, rhinos and tigers. “Therefore, WHO’s role is to help countries ensure that, as with any other medicine, traditional medicine is safe, evidence informed and equitably integrated in systems,” Shyama added. Shyama, who studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and taught global health policy at Boston University, said that “40% or more of biomedical Western medicine and pharmaceuticals derive from products that are natural”. She cited aspirin drawing on formulations using willow tree bark, contraceptive pills developed from yam plant roots and child cancer treatments based on Madagascar’s rosy periwinkle flower. The WHO also lists the development of the anti-malaria

Goh (mask removed) and team.

UMMC, CelcomDigi collaborate for multi-country live surgery

UNIVERSITI Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and CelcomDigi Bhd collaborated on one of the world’s first real-time, multi-country live ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery powered by 5G, extended reality (XR) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies last week. The live surgery, led by the director of UMMC Professor Dr Mohd Zulkiflee Abu Bakar – an otorhinolaryngologist and head & neck oncosurgeon – and Dr Julius Goh Liang Chye, a senior lecturer and clinical ENT specialist, was streamed in real-time to medical students and international specialists from leading institutions in America such as Harvard Medical School, Mayo Clinic and Vanderbilt University Medical Centre), as well as across Asia, including South Korea, Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and several states in Malaysia. Through an immersive AI-powered HoloMedicine Robotics XR platform TWO recent studies highlight the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) tools to be less accurate in some patients than others, if the tools are not trained adequately. It is well known that if AI tools are trained on data collected from unequal proportions of patients from various demographic groups, they have a harder time making an accurate prediction in minority groups that are not well represented. Researchers reported on a current analysis in Cell Reports Medicine that even when the sample sizes were comparable, the models sometimes performed worse in one demographic group than another. The reason may be that some cancers are more common in certain groups, so the models become better at making a prediction in those groups. The researchers discovered that the models may have difficulty predicting cancers in populations where they are not as common, as a result. In addition, subtle microscopic differences may exist in biopsy samples from different demographic groups and AI may detect those variables and use them as a proxy for cancer type, potentially making it less effective at diagnosis in populations in which these mutations are irregular. “We found that because AI is so futuristic, the technology can differentiate many obscure

by ApoQlar, all were connected to UMMC’s operating theatre. While engaging in real-time remote proctoring and two-way live clinical feedback, CelcomDigi delivered ultra-low latency 5G network services to the participants. The live transmission delivered smooth, synchronous, high-definition visuals that enabled participants to observe critical surgical steps with exceptional precision and clarity. The surgical procedure showcased how next-generation connectivity can transform surgical training, remote clinical collaboration and cross-border medical knowledge exchange. The initiative strengthens Malaysia’s growing leadership in medical innovation and underscores the potential of 5G-enabled HoloMedicine in driving next generation healthcare education, supporting national ambitions to expand healthcare tourism and digital health capabilities. biological signals that cannot be detected by standard human evaluation,” study leader Kun-Hsing Yu of Harvard Medical School said in a statement. The models may pick up signals that are more related to demographics than disease, as a result – inferring that demographic information from pathology slides could affect the technology’s predictive ability across groups. Together, Yu said, these explanations suggest that bias in pathology AI derive not only from the variable quality of the training data but also from how well the models are trained by researchers. When his team applied a new framework to the models they’d tested, AI reduced the diagnostic disparities by 88%, they said. “We show that by making this small adjustment, the models can learn robust features that make them more generalisable and fairer across different populations,” Yu said. The finding is encouraging, he added, because it suggests that bias can be reduced even without training the models on completely fair, representative data. In a separate study published in Plos Biology , researchers found that even with broad samples of bacterial populations, bias may be blocking the potential of AI to predict and combat antibiotic resistance. – Reuters

Malaysia’s first photon-counting CT scanner sets new benchmark in healthcare

AI needs proper training to find cancer in lower-risk groups, studies find

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (fourth from left) and leaders from Sunway and Siemens Healthineers with the photon-counting CT scanner at Sunway Medical Centre.

Datuk Lau Beng Long. Developed by Siemens Healthineers, the system is the result of decades of research in detector technology that involves photon counting. The scanner is also equipped with advanced spectral imaging and AI-enabled support tools including myExam Companion and GO Technologies, which help ensure consistent image quality accross scans and smoother workflow.

addresses long-standing challenges in diagnostic imaging where higher radiation doses were often the cost of clarity. “By introducing Malaysia’s first photon-counting CT, we are empowering our clinicians with an advanced diagnostic tool that enhances precision, supports confident clinical decision-making and improves patient comfort,” said Sunway Healthcare group president