Tour to boost TCM-western medicine cooperation in Europe

2019-11-08 11:56:46 Newsgd.com Newsgd.com

The ten-day European tour of Lingnan TCM culture concluded in Germany on November 5th. During the tour, the Guangdong delegation visited both the Faculty of Medicine of the Sorbonne and Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital’s TCM Center in Paris, the Sino-Swiss TCM Center in Geneva, and the First German Clinic for Chinese medicine the TCM-Klinik in Bad Kötzting, Bavaria.

Professor Alain Baumelou (R) is in an interview with Nanfang Daily. [Photo: Nanfang Daily/Shao Yihong, Xu Juan]

The Guangdong delegation visits the TCM Center at the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital in Paris. [Photo: Nanfang Daily/Shao Yihong, Xu Juan]

Wang Yongzhou, the director of the TCM Department at the the Faculty of Medicine of the Sorbonne, said that TCM both calls for the insight of the world, and that the world needs the wisdom of TCM. Professor Alain Baumelou, the director of the TCM Center at the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital hopes that more French doctors will have the opportunity to study TCM in China.

Dong Hongguang, director of the Sino-Swiss TCM Center told the reporter that people in Switzerland are open to TCM, and that integrative medicine is very popular in the country.

Dong Hongguang, director of the Sino-Swiss TCM Center, is in an interview with Nanfang Daily. [Photo: Nanfang Daily/Shao Yihong, Xu Juan]

TCM experts from both Switzerland and Guangdong have a talk during the visit. [Photo: Nanfang Daily/Shao Yihong, Xu Juan]

Dr. Du Xudian, who has operated a TCM clinic for about 20 years in Darmstadt, Germany, believes that combining western medicine and TCM is a powerful approach.

Professor Dai Jingzhang, the Chinese director of TCM-Klinik Bad Kötzting, explained that TCM is well received in Germany, but TCM practitioners who want to work in an overseas country face problems with work permits and qualifications. “There is no licensing examination for TCM in Germany, so if Chinese TCM doctors want to practice medicine in this country, the first challenge for them is how to obtain the relevant qualification,” Professor Dai said.

A man who tries out acupuncture takes a selfie at a forum in TCM-Klinik Bad Kötzting. [Photo: Nanfang Daily/Shao Yihong, Xu Juan]

Staff of Dr. Du Xudian’s TCM clinic present a drug list to TCM specialists from Guangdong. [Photo: Nanfang Daily/Shao Yihong, Xu Juan]

These problems also exist in France, Switzerland and many other foreign countries. In addition, it is difficult to export TCM decoction pieces and Chinese patent medicine to European countries, which makes it even more difficult for TCM doctors to prescribe appropriate medicines in Europe.

Xu Qingfeng, the director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Bureau of Guangdong Province, proposed that both China and European countries can strengthen cooperation in terms of future TCM talent training and academic research, quicken the improvement of related laws and regulations, and promote the complimentary development of both Chinese and western medicine.

The European tour of Lingnan TCM culture is being directed by both the Information Office of the People’s Government of Guangdong and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Bureau of Guangdong Province, and organized by TCM institutions from both China and abroad.

Author: Monica Liu

Editor: Simon Haywood

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