Local Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners have launched a petition asking the provincial government to let them join the fight against COVID-19.

article continues below

The online campaign, which was launched by Home of Canada TCM Society and has collected more than 2,230 signatures as of April 28, urges B.C.’s health authority to consider expanding the role of TCM practitioners to support COVID-19 patients who are quarantined at home.

“With the approval from the B.C. Ministry of Health, we will take on this challenge to mobilize our resources, develop provincial-wide treatment protocols and to organize a number of medical treatment teams to meet the needs of the COVID-19 patients in quarantine,” reads the petition.

Among its supporters is Jia Xian Lu, vice-president of Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncturists of British Columbia (ATCMA), who said TCM interventions could be an alternative treatment option for patients quarantined at home.

“TCM did play a critical role in the treatment and rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients in China – in concert with ventilators and Western medicine. Patients with mild symptoms are asked to isolate themselves at home; this might be the ideal time for TCM intervention to prevent the disease from further progressing,” said Lu.

Using TCM, health is maintained by ensuring a balance in the body. The herbal treatments can slow the virus’ progress by restoring the body's ability to regulate its internal environment to create good health, according to Lu.

Muying Li, another licensed practitioner, said three patients who had COVID-19 symptoms reached out to her last month with hopes she could help ease their pain.

“I used meeting apps to examine their symptoms. Then I forwarded them several formulas, and these medicines yielded good outcomes.”

Like other practitioners, Li desperately wants to help support those afflicted with the virus, but it’s challenging to get her voice heard as TCM has its doubters.

Li said she understands people’s skepticism, but it will take time for researchers to develop a vaccine, and, meanwhile, many patients are sitting at home suffering.

Another concern for some TCM practitioners is the fact they have no official health policy to back them up.

“If something happens, there is no policy in place to protect TCM practitioners unlike Western doctors, who are well-protected by a series of policies, laws and insurances,” said John Yang, the chair of the TCM program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU).

Yang added that the ideal way for them to join the fight against COVID-19 is for the provincial government to launch a pilot project in which credible TCM practitioners are included on teams of medical experts that are exploring how best to deal with the pandemic.

“If health authorities were willing to invite registered, sophisticated TCM doctors specialized in epidemics to provide consultations -- that would be a positive sign that we can beat this virus together.”