China should continue to promote the innovative development of traditional Chinese medicine and advance the realization of Healthy China 2030, a major reform of the country’s healthcare system, according to a report released by the ongoing National Congress of the Communist Party of China yesterday, which lays out the blueprint for the country’s economic development.
TCM needs to modernize, and in order to do this, it has to update classical prescriptions to treat modern diseases and continue to standardize its methods, Liu Maogui, formerly an expert at the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told Yicai Global. Some diseases in ancient times had different symptoms from those today due to changes in our living environment, Liu said.
TCM must be standardized to guarantee the quality of the drugs and treatment, Liu said. Medicinal herbs are the biggest part of TCM, and only high-quality ingredients can guarantee that herbal decoctions and ready-made drugs will work.
The medicinal herbs used in TCM have been uneven in quality for a long time, Liu said. There were no sophisticated standards for monitoring quality so sometimes they could contain excessive amounts of heavy metals and pesticide residues. Small-scale farming by individuals has also limited the sector’s development, he added.
Drug regulators, organizations and industry alliances have been exploring how to standardize the production of Chinese herbs and improve their quality, he said. In March, the National Medical Products Administration, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the NATCM released a new edition of Good Agricultural Practices for Chinese Medicinal Herbs.
TCM played a vital role in China’s battle against Covid-19. A combination of TCM drugs and Western medicine were used in the prevention and treatment of the novel coronavirus. Last year, China approved 12 new TCMs to go to market, the most in the past five years.
From:https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/traditional-chinese-medicine-must-continue-to-modernize-national-congress-says