HONG KONG: The city is moving forward to become the leader in setting standards for commonly used Chinese herbal medicines. For one thing, the list of 60 herbal medicines currently standardized will be expanded to about 200 by 2012. Testing laboratories will be established to facilitate the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong, according to the annual policy address Chief Executive Donald Tsang delivered yesterday.

The plan fits in with the government's Six Pillars Policy to promote the development of Testing and Certification as one of the industries seen as vital to Hong Kong's future. The long-term plan is to establish Hong Kong as a testing center for traditional Chinese medicinal products manufactured on the mainland.

Tsang said the government will consider allowing renowned traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners from the mainland to teach and do research in Hong Kong, setting the stage for Hong Kong to create a platform for popularizing Chinese medicines globally.

TCM services are also planned for the four newly developed private hospitals by the end of this year. The hospitals are at Wong Chuk Hang, Tseung Kwan O, Tai Po and Lantau. Currently, 14 public hospitals under the Hospital Authority are providing TCM services. There are no private hospitals in the field at the present time.

Feng Jiu, president of the Hong Kong Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association, said expanding the use of herbal medicines in Hong Kong will enhance the visibility of TCM and make services more competitive in the private medical sectors.

However, Feng added, the policy address lacked specific measures to promote the development of the field of TCM. Historically, Western medicines have dominated medical services in Hong Kong. It was not until 2003 that the registration system for Chinese medicine finally took shape. But until now, there has been only a Chinese medicine council to regulate the practice, but still no development committee to help the field to grow.

Most of the 6,000 registered TCM practitioners in Hong Kong are spread out in small medical clinics. Building the first TCM hospital was cited as the priority for most practitioners.

"I don't agree with the idea we need more specialists from the mainland to facilitate Chinese medicine development in Hong Kong. Three universities here have Chinese medicine schools, and they are inviting professors from the mainland every year. However, as most of them spend only two or three years here, the short tenure in fact hindered the process of researches. We have no shortage of local talents, and I think they should be the priority in advancing Chinese medicine development in Hong Kong," said Feng.

China Daily

(HK Edition 10/15/2009 page2)