Professor Lin Zhixiu, President of the Hong Kong Association for Integration of Chinese-Western Medicine

Hong Kong has just experienced its 5^th and most deadly wave of COVID pandemic. We have recorded more than 1.2 million infected cases of Omicron variant of COVID in a short span of 3 months. Because of the shear upsurge of the number of patients, the public hospitals under the management of Hospital Authority was absolutely overwhelmed with severe cases. The majority of the patients with mild condition were forced to stay at home with only limited access to Western medicine. For this very reason, Chinese medicine practitioners in Hong Kong acted very quickly in providing tele-consultations to those patients who needed medical treatment, and delivered Chinese herbal medicine via couriers to their doorsteps. Overall, we have seen very promising results after Chinese medicine treatment, and most of these patients had their clinical symptoms, such as fever, cough and sore throat, relieved by taking Chinese herbal medicine. Because of the therapeutic efficacy of Chinese medicine, these patients didn’t need to go to hospitals for treatment, thereby alleviating the huge pressure on the public healthcare system as a whole.

After the 5^th wave of COVID, we certainly have seen a surge in the popularity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Hong Kong as an effective treatment. The Hong Kong Government has started to realise the increasing importance of TCM in our healthcare system. Chief Executive Carrie Lam has promised to create a conducive environment for Chinese medicine development by reviewing and revising relevant regulatory and policy frameworks. With our first Chinese Medicine Hospital expected to be in operation in 2025, I am confident that Chinese medicine sector in Hong Kong will soon scale new heights and become an international hub for Chinese medicine, which can be emulated by other places in Asia and beyond.

Some people may doubt the true effectiveness of Chinese medicine in fighting the COVID, and call for more scientific proof. In fact, there are a number of relatively good quality clinical trials out there which have demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbal medicine on the treatment of COVID patients with mild disease. For example, a multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial undertaken by Academician Zhong Nanshan’s team enrolled 284 COVID patients and compared the effects of Lianhua Qingwen Capsules on top of standard care versus conventional standard care alone. They found that patients on the TCM capsules recovered from their symptoms such as fever, fatigue and coughing in a shorter time than patients not given the TCM capsules. The researchers therefore judged that TCM capsules shortened the period to resolution of clinical symptoms of COVID-19. According to the WHO Expert Meeting on Evaluation of TCM in the Treatment of COVID-19 published in early April, there was sufficient evidence of efficacy of TCM on mild and moderate COVID-19 cases, but only preliminary evidence on severe or critical patients. Of course, there always needs to be more high quality clinical trials in this area.

With this wave of pandemic is gradually subsiding, everyone in Hong Kong is breathing a sigh of relief. However, for many of those who were once infected, the road to total recovery may be lengthy and bumpy. While the majority of the patients quickly recovered from COVID infection, some still have complaints such as fatigue, cough and shortness of breath, poor appetite, insomnia and emotional disturbances. From Chinese medicine perspective, these post-COVID symptoms, sometimes also called Long-COVID, are the results of the injuries to the lung and spleen organs and damage to the Qi and Yin elements of the body due to the pestilential corona virus infection. As for the treatment, Chinese medicine practitioners would usually adopt a treatment principle of strengthening the lung and spleen functions, tonifying the vital Qi and nourishing Yin with an aim of restoring the body to its pre-COVID balanced state and speed up the recovery. In clinical practice, two formulas are often prescribed, including Shashen Maidong Decoction and Xiangsha Liujunzi Decoction. From my personal experience as a TCM practitioner, many Long-COVID patients had their clinical symptoms significantly improved by taking these Chinese herbal medicines, and their quality of life was markedly improved too.

All in all, Chinese medicine has played an important role in the fight against the 5^th wave of COVID pandemic, and is expected to continue to play a key role in reducing the impact of pandemic in future.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this song  - Greatest Love Of All by the late Whitney Houston to all healthcare professionals and workers in Hong Kong, who have fought the COVID pandemic fearlessly and with love for the people of Hong Kong.