Chinese medicine and Western medicine, both are powerful weapons in the fight against disease

The equal emphasis on Chinese and Western medicine is one of China’s new era of health and health work guidelines, but also the distinctive features and unique advantages of China’s medical and health care. Since the outbreak of the new pneumonia epidemic, China has insisted on the combination of Chinese and Western medicine and the use of Chinese and Western medicines, and Chinese medicine has participated in the prevention, control and treatment of the epidemic in a comprehensive and in-depth manner, making outstanding contributions to the protection of people’s health. Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the “14th Five-Year Plan” for the development of Chinese medicine, emphasizing the “improvement of the level of integration of Chinese and Western medicine”.

At present, the global new pneumonia epidemic is still in a pandemic state, and new infectious diseases continue to emerge. To effectively respond to various health challenges and better meet the health needs of the people, it is urgent to accelerate the development of Chinese medicine and better utilize its unique advantages in the construction of a healthy China. With a hundred years of changes and a century of epidemics intertwined, Chinese medicine is in a period of important historical opportunities. We must adhere to the equal importance of Chinese and Western medicine, inherit the essence, keep the righteousness and innovation, implement major projects for the revitalization and development of Chinese medicine, fill the shortcomings, strengthen the weaknesses, promote the advantages and activate the strengths, promote the combination of Chinese medicine and modern science, and promote the complementary and coordinated development of Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

Adhere to the equal importance of Chinese and Western medicine, must promote the synergistic development of Chinese and Western medicine in general hospitals. In general hospitals to promote the “mechanism, team, measures, effective” combination of Chinese and Western medicine medical model, the Chinese medicine into the multidisciplinary consultation system, strengthen the collaboration of Chinese and Western medicine and collaborative research, the development and implementation of “Chinese is Chinese, Western is Western” combination of Chinese and Western medicine Treatment programs. Promote the establishment of TCM clinical departments and TCM outpatient clinics and TCM beds in all tertiary general hospitals. Create a number of “flagship” hospitals and “flagship” departments for the collaboration of Chinese and Western medicine, and carry out joint research on major difficult diseases, infectious diseases, chronic diseases, etc. At the same time, improve the level of Chinese medicine services in relevant medical institutions. Guide the standard construction of Chinese medicine clinical departments and Chinese medicine rooms in specialist hospitals, infectious disease hospitals and maternal and child health care institutions, carry out Chinese medicine services generally, innovate Chinese medicine service models, and strengthen the construction of Chinese medicine specialties in related fields.

Adhere to the equal importance of Chinese and Western medicine, must enhance the participation of Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of new outbreaks of infectious diseases and public health events emergency response capabilities. Strengthen the construction of emergency treatment capacity of Chinese medicine. Relying on high-level tertiary Chinese medicine hospitals, the construction of national Chinese medicine epidemic prevention and treatment bases covering all provinces, relying on the base to form Chinese medicine epidemic prevention and treatment teams, to enhance the capacity of Chinese medicine emergency medical rescue. All tertiary public TCM hospitals and combined Chinese and Western medicine hospitals set up fever clinics, strengthen the construction of infectious diseases, emergency, critical care, respiratory, testing and other related departments, and enhance their service capacity. At the same time, increase the national Chinese medicine response to major public health events and epidemic prevention and treatment backbone personnel training efforts to form a fully staffed, reasonably structured and dynamically adjusted talent pool to improve Chinese medicine public health emergency and critical care capabilities.

Adhere to the equal importance of Chinese and Western medicine, must build a high-quality Chinese medicine talent team. Deepen the synergy between medicine and education, and further promote the reform and high-quality development of TCM education. Establish a professional curriculum system of TCM with TCM curriculum as the main line and Chinese medicine before Western medicine, optimize the professional setting, curriculum and textbook organization, add TCM epidemic courses, increase the content of classical courses, and carry out TCM classical competency level examinations. At the same time, improve the implementation of the system of Western doctors studying TCM. Increase the number of hours of TCM courses in clinical medicine majors, make TCM courses mandatory for undergraduate clinical medicine majors and graduation internship content, and increase TCM knowledge in the clinical category physician qualification exam. Strengthen the construction of combined Chinese and Western medicine disciplines, and cultivate a number of multidisciplinary crossover innovation teams in Chinese and Western medicine.

Chinese medicine and Western medicine are both powerful weapons in the fight against disease. Both have their own strengths and there is no difference between high and low. Chinese and Western medicine can complement each other’s strengths and advance hand in hand. We should firmly establish cultural self-confidence, promote a better combination of traditional medicine and modern medicine with an open and tolerant attitude, and adhere to the equal importance of Chinese and Western medicine, so as to provide strong support for the comprehensive promotion of the construction of a healthy China and better protection of people’s health.