简体中文
01:49
Doctors in China say traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has proven effective in fighting the coronavirus over the past two months. According to China's State Administration of TCM, the effectiveness rate reached over 90 percent among 71,000 COVID-19 patients across the country.
"TCM has proven effective in easing COVID-19 symptoms. It can lessen symptoms, and in turn, increase the cure rate and lower the fatality rate," said Yu Yanhong, Party chief of the CPC committee of China's State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
So far, doctors have widely applied at least six Chinese medicines on patients, which have shown significant results in clinical trials and controlled experiments.
"Seventy-five severely infected patients in a control group at Jinyintan hospital have shown significant improvement in both clinical symptoms and lung inflammation in their CT scans," said Dr. Huang Luqi, with the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, adding, "On average, patients test negative (for coronavirus) and get their hospital stays cut short within three days."
Dr. Zhang Boli with the Chinese Academy of Engineering pointed out that after two months of work, Wuhan's total number of COVID-19 patients dropped to 5,000, down from 60,000 just weeks ago. The numbers of the city's patients in severe conditions also took a dive from 12,000 to 1,800.
"Building temporary hospitals and applying integrated treatments have significantly shrunk the number of cases and stopped mild symptoms from becoming severe. They were the keys to victory," said the academician.
Zhang, also president of the Tianjin Hospital of TCM, added that there isn't any special medicine targeting the virus yet. However, TCM may be a fair option to help COVID-19 patients ease their symptoms such as fever. In Wuhan alone, 600,000 sets of TCM drugs have been distributed. Now countries including Italy, the worst-hit region in the world, are seeking help from China.
The TCM administration says it has translated the nation's COVID-19 treatment guidelines into English to share its experience and method in fighting the virus.
China received help from different countries during its toughest times amid the epidemic. Now the nation says it's time to return the favor as the situation eases at home – and the Chinese art of healing stands ready for help.
