WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC BUREAU REGIONAL !)U PACIFIOU~ OCCIDENTAL
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Thirty-sixth session Manila
WPR/RC36/TD/INF.DOC/6 19 September 19fl5
16-20 September 1985
THE ROLE OF TRADITIONA~ MEDICINE IN PRIMARY H&\LTH CARE IN CHINA
LE ROLE DE LA MEDECINE TRADITIONNELLE DANS LES SOINS DE SANTE PRIMAIRES EN CHINE
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THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE IN CHINA
We appreciate very much that "The Role of Traditional Medicine in Primary Health Care" has been selected by WHO as the topic for the technical d~scussion of this session~ which fully reflects the importance and support g1ven by WHO to traditional medicine .and will certainly exert a positive impact on the development of traditional medicine in the world. Now, please allow me, on behalf of the Ministry of Public Health of the People's Republic of China, to present an introduction to you on "the role of traditional medicine in primary health care in China". Traditional Chinese medicine represents the crystallization of experiences accumulated by the Chinese people in their struggle against diseases over several thousand years witn a written history of more than 2300 years. It not only has its unique theoretical system, but also has an extensive accumulation of therapeutic methods. Traditional Chinese medicine is one of the best preserved academic systems of our traditional cultural heritage and has made great contributions to the flourishing of the Chinese nation and produced a considerable impact on the development of world medicine and pharmacology as well. Being effective in treating many diseases, rich in its resources and causing less expense and side effects, traditional Chinese medicine has enjoyed high reputation among Chinese people and been well accepted by them. In our extensive rural areas inhabited by 800 million people, people are accustomed to prevent and treat diseases with traditional Chinese medicine. After the founding of New China, the Central Government has attached great importance to the development of traditional Chinese medicine by laying down a series of principles and policies to protect and promote traditional Chinese medicine. It is explicitly stipulated in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China that "both modern medicine and traditional Chinese medicine should be developed". At present, the Ministry of Public Health has been drafting the 11 Law on Traditional Chinese Medicine" in line with the requirement in the national constitution. Our Government has reemphasized that traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine should be given same important place in health services, therefore traditional Chinese medicine administration has been set up in health authorities at all levels. Thanks to the importance and concern given by the Party and the Government, traditional Chinese medicine has witnessed considerable development. According to the statistics by the end of 1984, there are 1179 hospitals and 377 clinics of traditional Chinese medicine above country level with 85 000 beds, 324 000 doctors and assistant doctors of traditional Chinese medicine and 146 000 traditional Chinese pharmacists. with a purpose of improving the training of traditional Chinese medicine, the country has set up 25 colleges of traditional Chinese medicine (two of them still under construction) with 27 000 undergraduates and 21 secondary schools of traditional Chinese medicine with 8000 undergraduates. 'lbe colleges and research institutions of traditional Chinese medicine have also enrolled post.,..graduates doing master's and doctor's degrees. Some
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medical colleges and secondary medical schools have also offered courses on traditional Chinese medicine. Since the founding of new China, 63 000 senior and 30 000 secondary workers of traditional Chinese medicine have been turned out. In the meantime, the Government has also encouraged the running of traditional Chinese medical schools in various forms, such as with funds from collective and individual investments or funds jointly collected by them and advocated apprenticeship with old and experienced traditional doctors and self-study. The qualifications of those who pass the examination sponsored by the national committee of self-study examination will be recognized, they will either get employment in state or collective medical institutions or conduct private practice. Up to now, more than 250 000 have been trained through this way. For the purpose of improving and developing traditional Chinese medicine, 46 independent research institutions of traditional Chinese medicine have been set up nationwide to vigorously apply advanced science and tecnnology and modern means in the research on traditional Chinese medicine and pnarmacology. At the same time, western doctors have been organized to study traditional Chinese medicine and conduct research on it. At present, tnere are 430U western doctors who have completed study over a period of two years and 28 institutions of integrating traditional Chinese medicine with western medicine, thus making it possiole for traditional and western doctors to cooperate with each other, make up each other's deficiencies. China is a developing country with the vast majority of its people living in rural areas. To do a good job of medical and health care work for 800 million peasants is a fundamental but also very ar~uous task of our health services. Thereby, to put stress on medical and health work in the rural areas and give full play to the role of traditional Chinese medicine 1n primary health care is the basic guiding ideology of our health work. At present, there are 227 000 traditional Chinese doctors in rural areas, accounting for 70% of the total in the country. In addition, there are 125 000 village doctors and health aides working in the forefront of medical and health services in rural areas. Most of them have mastered basic knowledge oi traditional Chinese medicine and carried out prevention and treatment of diseases with both systems of medicine. With deep-going development of health services in rural areas, a large number of hospitals of traditional Chinese medicine have been widely establisned in villages and townsnips. According to the survey in Shanxi Province, 400 hospitals have been set up at grassroots level, of which 340 are hospitals of traditional Chinese medicine, tnus playing an important role in overcoming the shortage of doctors and medicine in rural areas. Another survey conducted in Jianhe county of Guizhou Province in 1983 showed that out of 435 280 annual outpatients, 204 765 outpatients were treated with traditional medicine, making up 4 7%. of the total, which fully indicates that traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacology not only had made great contribution to the protection of people's health in the history, but also plays a role which can not be replaced t>y modern medicine and pharmacology in the modernization programme and serves as an impotant focus in the protection of people's health. . ~!though traditional Chinese medicine has witnessed great development, 1t st1ll cannot meet the objective needs. Difficulties have been ~nc?untered,.such as ins~fficiency of institutions and facilities, inadequacy 1n 1 ts quant1ty and qual1ty of the contingent as well as shortness in variety
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of the drugs. All these have affected the development and improvement of traditional Chinese medicine. Our Government has taken active measures to solve these problems. The Government has planned to continue to increase its investment in the field of traditional Chinese medicine in the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985-1990). During this period, a number of colleges and secondary schools of traditional Chinese medicine will be established, enrolment will be expanded, technical skill of existing traditional Chinese doctors and will be improved in a planned way, 50% of existing assistant traditiona 1 Chinese doctors will reach the level of the doctors, and the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine will be popularized among village doctors and healtn aids through running training courses and correspondence courses. It is planned that except few areas, every village and township commune healtn centre will be staffed with one and two to three village doctors respectively wno have mastered knowledge of traditional Chinese medicne before 1990 and at the same time, it is also planned that by 1990, every county should establish a hospital of traditional Chinese medicine in hospital of minority medicine of certain size, so as to meet the needs of 800 million rural people in medical care. With a view to further developing our traditional Chinese medicine, we sincerely hope to continue to get support from WHO and further expand cooperative programme with WHO. we should strive to give full play to the role of traditional Chinese medicine and make contributions to the attainment of strategic goal of health for all by the year 2000. ·