bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Chinese medicine practitioners are told to await review

Chinese herbalists have complained that their offer to help in the fight against Sars is being ignored.

The Hospital Authority told the Anti-Sars Action Group of the Chinese Medicine Sector of Hong Kong yesterday it was still  assessing the best time for local herbalists to contribute their skills.

Action group convenor Liu Liang said the authority was procrastinating over the request. 'We do not know when they will finish their review. What we do know is that our request has not been accepted for the time being,' said Professor Liang, who is dean of the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University.

The authority said it appreciated the group's offer but it was still under review.

Two mainland herbalists,  Lin Lin  and Yang Zhimin, of the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, were invited  by the authority this month to share their experience on treating Sars patients.

They have treated 21 patient at Kwong Wah Hospital. It is the first time Chinese herbalists have co-operated with practitioners of western medicine in a Hong Kong public hospital.

The Hospital Authority said clinical work being done by the mainland pair was still in the early stages and the next step was to review their progress at 'an appropriate time'.

The two herbalists, according to the authority, were 'assisting them to work out the treatment protocol for Sars patients involving Chinese medicine practitioners in the treatment of public hospital patients in the future'.

The action group had received more than 30 applications from local herbalists, some with both Chinese and western medicine backgrounds, volunteering to work in Sars wards,  Professor Liu said.

Che Chun-tao, director of the School of Chinese Medicine at Chinese University, said:  'We could have learned from the two mainland herbalists to accumulate experience.'

Chinese medicine now is used only if both the patient and the doctor in charge agree.



Herbalists ready to serve on front line are kept waiting