BEIJING,
Dec. 9 -- China will accelerate the development of traditional minority
medicine, a top official with the Ministry of Health said yesterday.
The remarks came after an official statement that
traditional Chinese medicine was one of the best parts of Chinese culture and
should not be excluded from medical and health systems in the country.
The statement, made by the Ministry of Health and the
State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM), was in response to
a call by some academics to abolish traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from the
country's medical system.
By the end of last year, a total of 15 ethnic groups
including Tibetans, Mongolians and Uygur minorities had established 195
hospitals that treated patients with their minority medicines, She Jing,
vice-health minister and director of SATCM told a national conference.
The gathering of Chinese minorities' medicine
proponents was held on Friday and Saturday in Beijing.
She vowed to enhance the service capabilities of
minority medical organizations and strengthen the training of ethnic
professionals.
Furthermore, she said SATCM would establish a number
of laboratories for Mongolian, Tibetan and Uygur minority medical research
institutes.
She said she believed ethnic medicine was an
inexpensive solution to treat diseases among minority people.
The medical fee for ethnic medical treatment was only
half that of TCM hospitals and one third of Western medical institutions,
according to She.
The central government invested more than 73 million
yuan (9.35 million U.S. dollars) from 2001 to 2005 on construction of minority
medical organizations.
Local governments also strengthened investment in
minority medicine.
For example, the government of the Tibet Autonomous
Region invested nearly 80 million yuan (9.9 million dollars) in expanding five
Tibetan hospitals in the region.
The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region also increased
annual Mongolian medicine funds from 1 million yuan (123,000 dollars) to 20
million yuan (2.5 million dollars).
The debate over the fate of TCM was started by Zhang
Gongyao, a professor of philosophy of science at Changsha-based Central South
University.
In early October, Zhang posted an article on his blog
suggesting the government abolish TCM from the official medical system but still
retain it as an unfunded, grass-roots service. He said TCM had too many
unscientific components, high toxicity and uncertain therapeutic effects.
(Source: China Daily)
