King Saud University – News Portal

This week, heads of the international beekeepers association and the Asian beekeepers association, along with Saudi researchers, were among the guests at a workshop on the medical and therapeutic use of bee products. The workshop was organized by the Chair of Engineer  Abdullah Ahmad Bagshan for Bee Research.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Khazim, supervisor of the Chair, said the apitherapy workshop is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and drew physicians and experts from Germany, Switzerland, Bulgaria, the United States, France, Thailand and elsewhere who are renowned for using bee products in therapy.

Dr. Al-Khazim said the workshop was held because the Chair recognizes the importance of apitherapy, especially for its effectiveness in treating more than 500 ailments, including breast cancer, chronic wounds, skin ulcerations, burns, skin diseases, hepatitis, arthritis and eczema.

He added that a goal of the workshop was to spread knowledge about the medical properties of bee products and increase awareness of them among health workers.

He said the workshop also aimed to bring to the Arab world medical technology pertaining to the use of bee products and to consider laws and regulations governing apitherapy in other countries for the purpose of drafting a national plan.

Dr. Al-Khazim added that the workshop would conclude with a two-day training session by Dr. Stefan Stangaciu, director of the German and Rumanian Apitherapy Association on the practical implementation of bee product therapy. That session was intended for doctors, advanced students, pharmacists, pharmacological industry workers, alternative medicine workers, nurses and apiarists.

Other international experts included:

• Siriwat Wongsiri of  Chulalongkorn University’s Centre of Excellence in Entomology (Bee Biology) in Thailand;
• Giles Ratia, president of Apimondia (the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations);
• Margitta Worm, M.D., of the Charité-Universitätsmedizin (Charité-University Hospital), Berlin;
• Stefan Bogdanov, founder  of the world honey science network International Honey Commission;
• Stefan Stangatiu, President of “Apitherapy Consulting & Trading International”.

More than 500 apitherapy experts from the Kingdom were expected, along with legislators from the ministries of agriculture and health, the general commission on standards and specifications and the general commission of food and medical drugs, plus alternative medicine experts and representatives of and researchers in the field of bee products.

The program included discussions with official state bodies and alternative medicine associations on regulations and procedures to organize the bee product therapy profession.

The Bagshan Chair for Bee Research, which has six patents registered in the European Patent Office, has won medals at the Malaysia Technology Expo at Kuala Lumpur and Geneva Inventions Exhibitions, and won the KSU Innovation Center and the Rector Al-Othman prize for distinction in societal partnership.

Established in February 2009, the Baqshan Chair for Bee Research has been recognized for its service to the community through training courses for beekeepers to improve their capabilities and teach them more skills in producing honey, protecting bees from pests and yielding other bee products.

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