City to enhance TCM services with new law

Shanghai’s new law on traditional Chinese medicine passed in the city’s legislature on Wednesday.

The law further incorporates TCM in the city’s medical services at all levels and regulates its trade across the board.

According to the law, the city supports the establishment of cooperation mechanisms between TCM and Western medicine practitioners to provide joint solutions on the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, infectious diseases and diseases of unknown origins or causes.

Governments at the city and district levels are required to incorporate TCM in public health emergency management systems and apply it in the prevention and treatment of infectious disease and in other public health emergencies.

Along with TCM hospitals and clinics, there are businesses which are not medical institutions that legally provide health services with TCM techniques. Such businesses are prohibited from advertising their services as being medicinal or to sell TCM medicines or appliances.

Currently, almost all local government-held comprehensive hospitals, maternity hospitals, community health service centers and special hospitals, such as those for infectious diseases, have TCM clinics, and over 30 percent of medical services provided at the community level are related to TCM, according to the city government.

Shanghai is top in China for incorporating TCM in medical services.

The law will come into force on May 1 this year.