China seeks innovation in traditional medicine

[BEIJING] In an attempt to promote innovation in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), China has launched a long-term development plan to boost research in the field.

The 15-year plan, launched this week (21 March), will establish a TCM-based system of disease prevention and clinical treatment, improve modern TCM manufacturing techniques and create a set of internationally recognisable TCM standards.

"Among all academic disciplines in China, the breakthroughs in TCM have the greatest potential for China to develop original scientific innovations," said Liu Yanhua, vice-minister of science and technology, speaking at the launch.

The plan was initiated by the Ministry of Science and Technology and involved 16 government ministries and administrations, including the Ministries of Health and Education, the State Administration of TCM and the China State Food and Drug Administration.

Unlike previous schemes, which stressed the modernisation of TCM with scientific methods, the new plan attaches equal importance to original TCM theories.

It says that both traditional knowledge and innovation are important to TCM's development and that innovation should be based on the field's traditional ethos and experience.

But the plan also seeks to establish a system of standards and regulations for TCM that will be recognised internationally.

Zhang Chaozhong of the TCM Development Strategy Research Group at the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China said, "Established European Union, United States and International Organization for Standardization drug evaluation standards are not suitable to evaluate TCM, as modern medicine and TCM are totally different medical systems."

He said that Western medicine is based on a clear understanding of disease-causing mechanisms in order to develop specific treatments.

In contrast, TCM treatments are based on functional analysis of the patient's entire body, and use the body's self-healing abilities along with drugs and other medications.

Wang Zhimin, director of the natural medicine department at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said no matter how much the holistic and tailored characteristics of TCM are respected, their stability and reliability should be emphasised in order to increase recognition on the international market.

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Traditional medicine has "world potential"

Traditional Chinese medicine could become a global leader in medical treatment, a top science official said yesterday.

"Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), with its peculiar way of observing life and disease, has the greatest potential for original innovations among all the other academic disciplines in the country," Liu Yanhua, vice-minister of science and technology, said.

Liu made the comments at a ceremony marking the launch of a new report on TCM's potential to prevent and treat major infectious and chronic diseases.

The document, "Outline for Innovative Development of TCM" was co-published by 16 central government ministries and other official bodies.

TCM and forthcoming breakthroughs in life science are expected to be "one of the points of penetration for China's scientific research into the world".

Investment, innovation

To encourage more innovation, China will invest more money in the area and encourage international cooperation in the TCM research field.

And to give TCM a better footing on the world market, "a system of standards" would be established for medical treatments, medicine production, teaching, scientific research and market entry.

Such a system of standards would help boost TCM's "recognition and understanding" throughout the world, Yu Wenming, deputy director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said.

That system was expected to be the same as that applied to the world's traditional medicines.

More monitoring efforts will also be made on the side effects of TCM, according to the outline.

The State Food and Drug Administration received 369,000 reports of adverse drug reactions last year, of which TCM accounted for 15 percent, Wu Zhen, deputy director of the administration, said.

SADC TO RECOGNISE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

Speaking at a press conference during the SADC health Ministers forum in Lilongwe, Malawi,chair person of senior officials of the forum who is also the pricipal secretary of the Ministry of Health in Lesotho Teleko Kangombe said it is high time traditonal doctors should be recognised since the actual medicine are made from the very same african helbs.

He said what SADC states should do is to come up wuth the recommeded reseach on the traditional medicine and made them in a good quality for other countries.

"After we recognise the traditional drugs we will make them in the good quality, package them and even inport them to othe countries"said Kangombe.

The forum will also look major problems of SADC health issues such as HIV and AIDS,Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Following a four day meeting by SADC health ministers.Malawi is expected to declare TBas an emergency following the reserch done in the region.

China's traditional medicine to use scientific help to expand market

The Chinese government is to fund scientific research into traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to improve standards and to study new applications in order to expand its appeal abroad as an effective alternative to Western remedies and chemicals.

In a development outline on TCM, jointly prepared by 16 ministries, the government said that in the next 13 years, it would concentrate scientific support for traditional medicine as it might become "the breakthrough of Chinese innovation on the world stage".

"Science might solve the key problems of traditional medicine's development in modern times, so as to complement the ways we view and treat diseases," the outline said.

It also set a goal to help traditional healing methods and herbal medicines gain a footing on overseas "mainstream" health care markets by 2020.

The government also aims to launch international research programs to promote TCM and establish two influential traditional medicine research institutes and information exchange centers.

Over the past five years, the government has invested 740 million yuan (92.5 million U.S. dollars) in TCM research and development.

The plan also said the central and local governments would increase funding for TCM scientific research and actively seek investment from domestic businesses and overseas sources.

It said government will also try to establish a better system of standards for TCM treatments, drug production, medical scientific research and market entry.

Long before the start of modern medical science, the Chinese had developed complex theories in treating illness. Folk doctors used simple tools such as acupuncture needles and concocted remedies from natural ingredients, such as wild plants and animal parts.

The first Chinese medical classic -- The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicine -- dates back to between 403 BC and 221 BC. Ancient urn fragments suggest the Chinese might have a history of brewing herbs to treat diseases going back 8,000 years.

But TCM declined in the mid 19th Century due to the growing popularity of Western medicine. TCM was even officially banned for a time under the rule of the Kuomintang Party.

After the founding of the people's republic, TCM was rehabilitated and developed along side Western medicine. About 3,000 hospitals in China provide TCM treatments to nearly 234 million patients each year.

Despite its popularity, TCM is not widely used in health care systems abroad and faces criticism at home. Among the accusations, critics say TCM's theories lack scientific evidence and its remedies are ineffective and, in some cases, unsafe.

A nationwide debate erupted over the survival of TCM last year after an on-line proposal by Zhang Gongyao, a professor with Central South University, that health authorities remove TCM practices from national health services.

The Ministry of Health has strongly opposed the proposal, saying, "TCM is an inseparable and important component of China's health sector." Many outraged opponents said Zhang's ideas "ignored history and might kill off Chinese culture".

Other health experts say TCM is and should be widely used in China's public health care system as many low-income families cannot afford Western medicines. If developed well, TCM could even reverse the perception of the money-obsessed culture of health care caused by expensive Western treatments and chemical drugs, they said.

Speaking on TCM's shortcomings, Liu Gengtao, a research fellow with Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said TCM practitioners could learn more about diagnosing illnesses using Western medical techniques.

He welcomed the government plan, saying it could prompt researchers to use science to interpret the values and unique theories of traditional medicine and speed up the development of marketable and effective herbal medicines by combining the best of Eastern and the Western practices.

"China will develop a number of new herbal medicines in the next 10 to 20 years," Liu said.

"Unlike western medicine, which focuses solely on the disease, Chinese traditional remedy takes a holistic approach." said Wang Jie, president of the Guanganmen Hospital.

He said the co-existence of TCM and Western medicine was unique to China's health system, and by incorporating the two, China might invent an advanced system of medicine and take the global lead in medical science.

He thought TCM could have "more advantage" in treating chronic illnesses such as cancers, but said more research should be done to gain the scientific evidence.

Source: Xinhua