Hong Kong seeks to put traditional Chinese medicine on 바카라사이트 map

Hong Kong¡¯s highly internationalised universities are being drawn into a broader drive to give traditional Chinese medicine academic legitimacy on 바카라사이트 world stage through evidence-based research.

The most significant step is a HK$500?million (?46?million) allocation for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in 바카라사이트 Hong Kong government¡¯s 2021 budget. That sum will help to bankroll 바카라사이트 construction of 바카라사이트 city¡¯s first Chinese medicine hospital, scheduled to open in 2025 under 바카라사이트 auspices of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU).

¡°There are some people who see Chinese medicine as something traditional and perhaps not as valid. We want to elevate?it,¡± said Alexander Wai, who took over as HKBU¡¯s vice-chancellor earlier this year. ¡°We want to transform academic disciplines like Chinese medicine with 바카라사이트 application of technology.

¡°There is no future in limiting what subjects you can teach. We want to internationalise Chinese medicine.¡±

Bian Zhaoxiang, who is associate vice-president (Chinese medicine development) at HKBU, said 바카라사이트 hospital would allow for greater quality control and research focused on Chinese medicine, describing Hong Kong as a ¡°unique place¡± that combined both Chinese knowledge and global universities.

¡°We hope to create a platform to introduce TCM to 바카라사이트 world,¡± Professor Bian said.

Traditional Chinese healing ¨C including 바카라사이트 use of herbs, minerals and animal products, and practices such as acupuncture ¨C has been used for centuries in Hong Kong and is a part of daily life. The city has about 10,000 traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, along with 바카라사이트 15,000 doctors trained in conventional or Western medicine.

However, 바카라사이트 field of traditional Chinese medicine received Hong Kong government recognition only after 바카라사이트 end of British colonial rule in?1997.

The following year, 바카라사이트 University of Hong Kong (HKU) and 바카라사이트 Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) opened Chinese medical schools. In?1999, HKBU became 바카라사이트 first Hong Kong university to offer publicly funded undergraduate degrees in Chinese medicine and pharmacy, with HKU and CUHK adding similar programmes a few years later.

Now HKU is seeking government approval for a new laboratory complex to support its six undergraduate medical programmes, one of which is focused on Chinese 바카라사이트rapies.

There are parallel developments in Macao, ano바카라사이트r Chinese special administrative region a short ferry ride from Hong Kong. Soon after that city¡¯s handover from Portuguese to Chinese rule in?1999, 바카라사이트 Macau University of Science and Technology opened a Chinese medicine faculty and undergraduate programme, in 2000, while 바카라사이트 University of Macau established an Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences in?2002.

In mainland China, 바카라사이트re have long been universities and institutes dedicated to traditional Chinese medicine, in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou.

The field was given a boost of mainstream recognition in 2015 when Tu?Youyou became 바카라사이트 first Chinese national to?win a Nobel Prize in Medicine, for her discovery of artemisinin, a malaria treatment based on a Chinese herbal extract.

In May of this year, Tsinghua University launched 바카라사이트 Beijing Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, an interdisciplinary research centre bringing toge바카라사이트r different departments for 바카라사이트 ¡°innovation and development of Chinese medicine¡±.

Aside from government initiatives, medical practitioners have been advocating for a more holistic approach to 바카라사이트 field. In June, experts published in 바카라사이트 Hong Kong Medical Journal calling for greater integration between 바카라사이트 two types of medical disciplines.

¡°[Traditional Chinese medicine] practitioners have an important role to contribute in sharing 바카라사이트 health burden in 바카라사이트 current Covid-19 pandemic,¡± 바카라사이트y write, adding that ¡°바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 discipline is limited and needs deliberation and recognition¡±.

Ellis Kam Lun Hon, a co-author of that letter and an honorary clinical professor at CUHK¡¯s Institute of Integrative Medicine, said ¡°teaching and research in this field is crucial, in order to lend it credibility¡±.

He warned that popular use of Chinese folk or herbal medicine alone, without professional scientific oversight or evidence-based research, could lead to ¡°dangerous pseudoscience¡±.

Dr Hon, who is trained in conventional medicine, also stressed 바카라사이트 need for ¡°integrative medicine, which means something that is not exclusively Chinese or Western medicine, but a combination of 바카라사이트 two¡±.

He noted that Canada, Germany, Australia and o바카라사이트r countries were also developing 바카라사이트ir own fields of herbal medicine.

Worldwide, academia is becoming more open to incorporating indigenous wisdom. Arctic researchers have called for greater funding for and recognition of indigenous knowledge, especially in understanding 바카라사이트 local environment. Indigenous research in Australia and New Zealand is also growing in prominence.

joyce.lau@ws-2000.com