Two traditional Chinese medicine hospitals yesterday announced a
pilot program of TCM-based health advice to prevent diseases rather
than treat them.
If the move in the TCM hospitals of Shuguang and Yueyang in
Shanghai, is a success, the service will be expanded to more
district-based hospitals and neighborhood health centers, officials
from Shanghai Health Bureau said.
"Compared with Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine
has its advantages in disease prevention and health care. The new
service, which is called treatment before developing disease, can
help people adopt a proper lifestyle, arouse awareness about health
protection and avoid developing severe syndromes in the future,"
said Xu Jianguang, director of Shanghai Health Bureau. The new
service will provide health checkups and diagnosis from the TCM
aspect and give medical and non-medical treatments as
necessary.
"Every patient has a health database and is given an
individualized therapy consisting of direction on diet, exercise
such shadow boxing and jogging, psychology and sleep as well as
medical methods mostly focusing on TCM such as acupuncture, herbal
soup and western medication if necessary," said Shen Yuandong,
president of Shuguang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.
"In addition to provide medical service, the center is also a
very good platform to promote traditional Chinese culture, which
interests many expatriate patients," Shen said.
(Shanghai Daily January 14, 2008)