TCM in Europe: with the reform and opening up

The 2018-12-16 xinhua

The opening ceremony of the china-switzerland centre for traditional Chinese medicine was held in Geneva. As the state administration of traditional Chinese medicine international cooperation projects in 2018, one of the "area" overseas cooperation projects, shaanxi university of traditional Chinese medicine with the Swiss group, the world federation of acupuncture and moxibustion, Dr Dong shenzhen hospital cooperation, based in Switzerland, Dr. Dong group to establish a demonstration clinic or hospital, to carry out the foundation of Chinese medicine education, skills training and learning communication.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), as an important part of Chinese traditional culture, has been recognized by local people in various European countries in recent years. According to a Swiss times reporter interviewed on the spot, Swiss people have a long process of gradually adapting to traditional Chinese medicine. When the curative effect of traditional Chinese medicine is passed from mouth to mouth and witnessed by people around, the process of people accepting and loving traditional Chinese medicine will be more smooth.

The European Union (including Switzerland) has strict regulations on the determination of ingredients and efficacy of medicines, so Chinese herbal medicines cannot enter Europe at present. But traditional Chinese medicine, especially acupuncture, bone-setting and massage, is gaining increasing acceptance in Europe. According to Yang zhuoxin, a doctor from shenzhen hospital of traditional Chinese medicine who attended the opening ceremony of the china-switzerland traditional Chinese medicine center, Hungary has legislated on issues related to TCM's access to local main medical channels at the government management level. That is to say, there is a clear "threshold". But other European countries have not yet entered the legislative stage.

According to Dr. Dong hongguang, director of the china-switzerland center for traditional Chinese medicine, with the historical process of reform and opening up, traditional Chinese medicine has been developing and carrying forward in Europe. Dong hongguang finished his post-doctoral study at the university of Geneva in the early 1990s. He used the combination of traditional Chinese and western medicine to open up a new way of treatment for infertility. With his careful treatment, dozens of Swiss couples succeeded in having their own offspring. In his clinic, walls are plastered with pictures of his family and children. A guest said in a thank you card to him: "your superb medical skills are the best card 'made in China'!"

Speaking about the development prospect of TCM in Europe, dong hongguang said that all kinds of medicine and medical methods have their strengths and limitations. Generally speaking, the treatment of acute diseases is the strength of western medicine, while the treatment of chronic diseases is the strength of traditional Chinese medicine, the two should be organically combined, and should not and should not be opposed to each other. The combination of the two can provide better services for patients both physically and mentally.

First of all, as one of the quintessence of Chinese culture and civilization, TCM should have a relatively high threshold of entry and a relatively high starting point. It should be made into high-quality products rather than ordinary consumer goods with a relatively low threshold. The advantage of becoming a general consumer goods of the masses is that it can occupy the market relatively easily, but it also brings about problems of relatively low-end image, uneven level of practitioners and relatively low standards. And once that image is established, it's very difficult to change it. 'Switzerland is a country with strong innovation ability, good at absorbing the strengths of all parties and creating high-quality products,' Mr. Dong said. We should make use of the characteristics of Switzerland to build traditional Chinese medicine into the best in the world and give full play to the role of China's soft power.

Secondly, TCM must enter the mainstream medical education and medical practice institutions, carry out learning and practice in accordance with each other's rules and regulations, and integrate into each other. 'we need to focus on the long term and recommend the best doctors, the best medical theories and the best medical practices to westerners,' Mr. Dong said. Let high-quality, genuine medical education institutions, rather than business operations such as supermarket chains, engage in medical teaching.

Thirdly, we should find the way of integrating traditional Chinese medicine into local specific conditions. Switzerland is a country with abundant medical resources, and the medical level in many aspects is second to none in the world, which means competition for practitioners. Therefore, on the question of entering the mainstream of traditional Chinese medicine medical system, proposed when there are professionals, whether in the bilateral free trade agreement for TCM physicians to set up a special title, and allows a certified registered Chinese doctor of traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment of patients from the basic medical insurance reimbursement, completely made up of locals, Switzerland "Swiss doctor of traditional Chinese medicine association" is made clear. The reason is very simple, "cake" so big, qualified to participate in the distribution of more people, will directly share their cup of soup, or even take their rice bowl.

According to dong hongguang, Swiss professionals and the general public have relatively objective attitudes towards TCM, neither blindly rejecting nor accepting it completely. Instead, they start from their western medicine and try to find a way to combine TCM with TCM to solve some problems that cannot be solved by western medicine. Dong hongguang, a professor in the department of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at the university of Geneva, said in the process of cooperating with him that acupuncture intervention can solve many other problems in pain treatment if it can reduce morphine drug dosage. Another plastic surgeon in western medicine said that if traditional Chinese medicine can help him solve his patient's postoperative edema problem, it won't do much good. As for the teaching of traditional Chinese medicine, some Swiss doctors proposed that we should not follow the Chinese teaching method of traditional Chinese medicine completely, but implement the teaching mode dominated by the meridian theory, and treat diseases based on syndrome differentiation of meridians and collaterals, without talking about or involving traditional Chinese medicine, pointing to the essence of traditional Chinese medicine. These points deserve further discussion.