Bridging the gap between alternative medicine and evidence-based medicine

Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) was defined as “those treatments and health care practices that are not an integral part of conventional western medicine, not taught in medical schools, and not generally used in hospitals”.[1] The gap between the traditional complementary alternative medicine and the conventional main stream western medicine has been widening ever since the adoption of the principles of evidence‑based medicine, as well as the guidelines of good practices by major competent health authorities and health policy makers in this new era of globalization and international harmonization.