The Ministry of Health and the State Administration of
Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM) have lambasted an on-line
petition aimed at getting traditional Chinese medicine withdrawn
from the country's healthcare system.
A source with the SATCM said, "The idea of abolishing
traditional Chinese medicine is a denial of science."
Zhang Gongyao, a professor with Central South University,
recently launched an on-line petition calling for the removal of
traditional Chinese medicine from the country's healthcare system.
Some netizens signed their names in support.
However, many more people opposed the petition.
Yang Yonghua, a professor with the Hunan Academy of Traditional
Chinese Medicine, said traditional Chinese medicine is undeniably a
mainstream medical treatment method in China. He pointed out that
50 percent of patients suffering terminal stage cancer opt for
traditional Chinese medicine treatments.
A Ministry of Health official said at a recent press conference
that "traditional Chinese medicine is an essential component of
China's medical care sector".
Referring to the petition, the SATCM source said people who
denied the historical achievements, current function and scientific
basis of traditional Chinese medicine were clearly ignorant of
history.
"Thousands of years of practice demonstrate that people are fond
of and deeply trust traditional Chinese medicine. The on-line
petition to repudiate traditional Chinese medicine is a farce," the
source said.
The SATCM source admitted that there were some cases of
businessmen cheating customers in the name of traditional Chinese
medicine. They might, for example, mix western medicine with
traditional Chinese Medicine and earn money by exploiting people's
trust in traditional Chinese medicine.
But shoddy practices such as these do not detract from the
scientific value of traditional Chinese medicine, said the
source.
(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2006)