Forgetting the methods and achievements of traditional Chinese
medicine would be a fatal mistake, as Chinese medicine could be
more effective in treating certain diseases than Western medicine,
said a German professor.
"It is understandable that the Chinese people want to benefit
from the advantages of Western medicine," said Professor Gustav
Dobos of Duisburg-Eessen University in a news release faxed Monday
to Xinhua through Gruppe M Healthcare Information Service.
"However it would be a fatal mistake if this wish would lead to
forgetting the methods and achievements of traditional Chinese
medicine which are based on a unique and incomparable experience
and winning more and more support in western societies," he
said.
His remarks came in response to an online campaign, led by
Professor Zhang Gongyao of Central South University of China, which
called for the removal of traditional Chinese medicine from China's
public health system.
Modern Western medicine has its limit in curing stress- and
age-related chronic diseases which often correlate with the western
style of living and working, said the professor.
"But these illnesses are best treated with a combination of
Western and traditional Chinese medicine," he said, citing Germany
as a successful example in practicing the method.
In the West, there was an urgent need for a traditional Chinese
medical system which individually treats the patients with methods
that produce little side effects, especially for the elderly with
chronic diseases, said Professor Dobos.
As China has been on the fast track of development, such
illnesses as diabetes, high blood pressure and stress-related
diseases are on the rise, said the professor, a regular visitor to
China.
A combination of Western and traditional Chinese medicines could
win ground in China, especially in big cities, he said.
Sponsored by Germany's Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach
Foundation, Professor Dobos has led a clinic at an Essen hospital,
combining Western and traditional Chinese herbal therapy to treat
patients.
(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2006)
