Dubai: Of late, more and more people are going in for a combination of scientific western allopathic therapies along with natural and alternative therapies, including Homeopathy that was founded in Germany and other Eastern and Asian therapies such as Acupuncture, Ayurveda, Unani and naturopathy.
A leading exponent of this integrative approach in the UAE is Dr Ludmila Vassilieva, who has come a long way since she first arrived in the country 18 years ago. Among the latest Golden Visa recipients, Dr Vassilieva is allopathic General Practitioner from Ukraine, but she became a leading promoter of Homeopathy and later founded the Holistic Healing Medical Centre in Dubai. She was the first person to be licensed by the Ministry of Health to practise Homeopathy in the UAE in 2002. Since then, over 200 homeopaths were able to establish their successful practice in the UAE.
When Dr Vassilieva arrived in the UAE in 1994, she not only held the degree of a General Physician (in allopathic medicine) form the University of Ukraine, but was also a qualified acupuncturist, homeopath and iridologist (diagnosing illnesses through examination of the eye).
She worked with commitment for seven years after which the Ministry of Health officially recognised Homeopathy and she became the first licensed practitioner in 2002. Since then, she founded the holistic healing centre where she developed an integrative approach, which combines the best of western science and natural, holistic perspective of eastern practices. Using this method, she has treated over 10,000 patients.
Belonging to a family of reputed allopathic medicine practitioners, including her husband, Dr Vassilieva said she realised she needed to go beyond allopathic medicine to trigger an organic healing process in the body, instead of just treating symptoms. “I was concerned that people who displayed symptoms of illness, let’s say cough, cold or sore throat, were prescribed antibiotics. As the very name suggested, antibiotics are against life itself. I then began looking for less intrusive methods of healing for our bodies and for a branch of medicine that was gentler in its approach,” she explained.
She first did a course in acupuncture and eventually discovered Homeopathy with which she was able to treat victims of the Chernobyl disaster.
In recognition of her yeoman service and that of other doctors at the Holistic Healing Centre, Dr Vassilieva along with Dr Mohammad Rifas, an Ayurvedic doctor at the centre, were awarded the Golden Visa,
Dr Vassilieva expressed her happiness at the recognition. “I am absolutely delighted to be recognised for my work. I am grateful to the UAE government and consider myself very lucky to live in this country. From 1994, when I first arrived in Dubai, I found it beautiful. UAE was a small country with very sweet people. They surprised me at first. There was so much cleanliness around, people respected women and cared about visitors. The hospitality and care was always special here.”
Dr Rifas has had great success in healing IBS, constipation, Multiple Sclerosis, sciatica etc with Ayurveda. He said, “This visa is in appreciation of my father, more than me. He runs a business in Dibba for the last 36 years and inspired me to practise Ayurveda in the UAE.”
