 |
In
a 2015 report China told the UN that it had 501,000 cases of HIV/AIDS as of the
end of 2014
|
China will double the
number of AIDS patients it treats with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM),
officials have said, part of a broader push to increase the use of the ancient
practice in the country's medical system.
AFP
report continues:
The
promotion of TCM is part of a five-year plan from the State Council, China's
cabinet, to tackle HIV/AIDS.
"The
number of people living with AIDS who are treated with traditional Chinese
medicine should be twice what it was in 2015," the State Council said on
its website Sunday.
The
plan outlined collaboration between traditional Chinese medicine departments
and national health and family planning commissions "to find a therapeutic
regimen which combines traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western
medicines".
The
TCM push aligns with a recent effort by the government to make the practice a
priority for both development and publicity.
TCM,
dating back thousands of years, treats ailments using herbal mixtures and
physical therapies such as acupuncture and cupping.
The
science behind such remedies has long been questioned. Last month medical
researchers disputed a study claiming that acupuncture could cure babies of
colic.
In
late December the Chinese legislature passed its first TCM law, which will
allow practitioners to be licensed and make it easier for them to open clinics.
There
are about 450,000 TCM practitioners across the country, according to the State
Council Information Office.
The
government sees the practice as a cost-saving alternative to modern healthcare.
The
new initiative to tackle HIV/AIDS will aim to reduce "AIDS-related
homosexual behavior" by at least 10 percent and mother-to-children
transmission rates to less than four percent.
In a 2015 report China told the UN that it had 501,000 cases of HIV/AIDS as of the end of 2014.
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