China turns to traditional medicinal options to treat Covid-19

As Covid rips through China’s vast population, making millions sick and fuelling a shortage of drugs, many are turning to old-school traditional medicines to battle the aches and pains of the virus.

President Xi Jinping has promoted traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) since the start of the pandemic, while health officials have hailed its “important role” in fighting the coronavirus.

Herbal remedies, massages and acupuncture

Encompassing a range of treatments, from herbal remedies and massages to acupuncture and diets, TCM has been used for thousands of years to treat all manner of ailments.

Critics say it is pseudoscientific and ineffective in treating actual illness and there is little peer-reviewed data to back claims of its efficacy.

But millions in China use it, often in conjunction with modern medicine to alleviate symptoms.

Beijing consultant Yu Lei, 38, had a fever after catching Covid, so he made a herbal tea with reputed anti-inflammatory properties featuring cassia twig, peony roots, liquorice, jujubes and ginger.

“In our family, we often use Chinese medicines,” he said, adding that his fever subsided after drinking the brew. According to followers like Yu, TCMs have fewer side-effects and work slower to regulate the body, rather than Western medicines that “fight the symptoms but rarely the source of the illness”.

Beijing has urged local authorities to “actively and objectively publicise the role and efficacy of TCM brews in the treatment of Covid”.

Expert weighs in

However, Ben Cowling, chair of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, said: “We don’t know whether these treatments are effective or not, because they haven’t been studied in clinical trials.

I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that some of them are effective, but I also wouldn’t rule out the possibility that some might be harmful.”

WHO recommends chemical treatment

The World Health Organisation only recommends Covid treatments that are based on chemical drugs. Western medicine remains the preferred mode of care in China, but proponents of TCM say combining the two is effective in treating Covid.

Liu Qingquan, director of the Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, said they “complement each other and can solve fever, sore joints, fatigue, sore throat, cough and other symptoms”.

Experts have taken to television to praise TCM since the start of the pandemic, with one product in particular, Lianhua Qingwen, benefiting from intense promotion by authorities.

Capsules of the medicine were given to all Hong Kong residents when a Covid wave hit the city last year.

But some online critics in China charge that Lianhua Qingwen is no more effective than peaches in syrup, a staple comfort food for sore throats in China, and social media users have complained of being handed TCM instead of ibuprofen or paracetamol.

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‘Traditional medicine can kill virus’

Li Wen, a 68-year-old retired acupuncturist, has been pricking himself with needles to combat his flu-like condition. He also bought two Chinese medicines.

“Chinese medicines can be helpful to fight the virus, but cannot kill the virus,” he said.

“But I remain cautious about Western drugs. Their side-effects should not be overlooked.” But some people were unconvinced.

“We young people know little about traditional medicine,” said Grace Hsia, 30. “We prefer Western medicines because they have immediate results.”

Li Na, a 36-year-old in Beijing, said: “Chinese medicines are ineffective. People take them more to reassure themselves that they are taking something.”

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