Coronavirus: can Hong Kong become a hub for traditional Chinese medicine? Exposure and experience from fifth Covid wave suggest so

Traditional Chinese medicine can play a bigger role in treating patients with severe diseases including Covid-19, experts have said, adding Hong Kong should strive to become a regional hub for the discipline by clearing legal hurdles for practitioners to further contribute.

Such medicine has been used mostly in rehabilitation treatment for recovered Covid-19 patients over the past two years, but the fifth wave of coronavirus infections has brought it into the public eye. As caseloads raged in March, city officials had pledged heavier use of traditional Chinese medicine, with visiting mainland experts touting its benefits, and packages distributed free to households.

“In the areas of providing care in emergencies and severe cases, if there is involvement of Chinese medicine, it could be one more option for patients,” said Professor Bian Zhaoxiang, associate vice-president of Chinese medicine development at Baptist University. He pointed to the collaborative impact of Chinese and Western medicine under such a move.

With a medical system in Hong Kong leaning towards Western medicine, Covid-19 patients treated by the traditional approach have only been those with mild or moderate conditions.

Efforts to introduce traditional Chinese medicine to Covid-19 treatment in Hong Kong started in April 2020, when up to 10 free rehabilitation sessions for recovered coronavirus patients were provided at the 18 public-funded Chinese medicine clinics citywide.

Since early last year, more than 360 Covid-19 patients have also received traditional treatment during their stay in facilities such as AsiaWorld-Expo and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, which took in those with relatively stable conditions.

Covid-19 patients with severe or critical conditions were treated solely with Western medication.