Why Chinese Medicine is Very Popular in European Countries - Essay Sample

Introduction

Countries across the world are looking to grow healthcare coverage in the face of rising costs of healthcare, growing consumer expectations in care, and reduced or stagnant budgets (Wang and Franz 2015, 5). Therefore, holistic approaches focused on integral services that are affordable and do not only focus on individual ailments, need to be adopted. One option is Chinese Medicine.

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Dating back 5000 years ago since the Han Dynasty, Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) and practices are some of the greatest treasures that China has contributed to the world of modern healthcare (Chan 2016). By reviewing the international market for Chinese medicine, this paper seeks to understand why Chinese medicines are so popular and their impact in Europe. To comprehend this, a critical look at the internationalization of Chinese medicines and their global sustainability is key.

Why Chinese Medicines are Popular

People need to stay healthy and TCM is preferred since aside from being natural, it does not cause drug resistance. According to Liu, C. (2016), TCM includes a range of items namely: Chinese patented medicines, medicinal materials, healthcare products, herbal extracts, and decoration pieces. It also involves practices such as massage (tui na), exercise (qigong) and acupuncture to prevent and treat health problems (Liu, C. 2016, 4). These products and procedures are administered by professionals with years of training.

Ping-Ching (2015) argues that, for the longest time, TCM has treated challenging diseases with little side effects. This at comparatively fewer costs to modern medicines. This has made the role of Chinese medicines to be recognized across the world. In January 2017, the Maltese government and China signed an agreement to increase the supply of Chinese medicine to Malta citizens (Wu, G. 2015, 83). A TCM clinic is also in the offing as well as the promotion of medical tourism and joint research. In 2016, 10,000 patients used TCM in Malta showing its value in medicine.

Chinese medicines are highly affordable since most are herbal and do not require any processing. The procedures are done using simple tools that are inexpensive as well. This shift in the healthcare model has provided a cheaper and more holistic approach to healthcare (Lin, Chan, Hu, Ouyang, Ung, Shi and Hu 2018, 9). Decreased cost of healthcare will allow for the better provision of care which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal for health that is to achieve universal health coverage (Chan 2016).

Traditional Chinese healthcare practices combined with modern ideas and principles have been seen to work better (Zhang 2016, 3). For example, physical therapy like medical qigong (exercise that involves breathing, meditation, and movement) has been effective in treating arthritis and fibromyalgia. The traditional nine needle therapy has been combined with modern medicines and procedures has been seen to work better. According to Zhang (2016, 4), this has increased the demand for traditional Chinese therapy and medicines.

The Medical Network (2016) points out that opening up of policies and the revision of Chinese market reforms coupled with the booming extensive global trade has promoted the development of TCM. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is key in helping China export its traditional medicine across the world (Liu 2016). According to the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicines, China opened 26 TCM centers in a span of three years (Fleischer, Su and Lin 2017, 105). The administration also aims to create 57 cooperation projects as part of the TCM BRI Development Plan (2016-2020).

People who have been treated using TCM view it as a great healthcare option that maintains health and promotes better well-being even in the future. This is because most medicines are herbal compared to the heavily processed modern medicines.

TCM has become so increasingly popular and effective such that global health organizations have begun to publicize it. The paper.cn September 2018 issue stated that Chinese traditional medicine will be featured in the 11th global compendium of the World Health Assembly (Lin et al. 2018, 9). This will not only give TCM the approval it needs but will also make more people aware of the benefits of traditional medicine.

China internationalized TCM in 1996 with the main focus being to expand the volumes of imports and exports of TCM abroad (Fleischer et al. 2017, 105). Another reason was to secure the legalization of Chinese Medicine in other countries. This would ensure a smooth and reasonable market entry and development. The 2016 market value for TCM exports and imports was 4.61 billion USD ((Fleischer et al,. 2017, 106). This accounted for 4.5 percent of the total value of Chinese pharmaceutical exports and imports.

Despite China having perfected the use of TCM in healthcare, the West has been skeptical of it, labeling it as alternative medicine (Ping-Chung 2015). It is claimed that the effectiveness of TCM has been tested using random trials that do not meet the required standards. Additionally, much of the research is done in China and the results are not included in Western literature. The EU also argues that standardized control is also difficult since it is hard to ascertain where and how the plant species were grown and harvested (Wang and Franz 2015, 10).

Moreover, Europe has had high policy thresholds that have discouraged importation of Chinese medicines over the years. In 2011, the EU's botanical drug approval and continuity clause (2004/24/EC EU) on traditional medicine was enforced (Wu 2015, 84). This sought to simplify the procedure for registering traditional medicines by offering a 7 year period for transition from herbal medicines. After the seven years, any drug that was not registered were to be removed from the EU market. This left only one Chinese drug that was approved for use in the EU. This goes to show the huge gaps and mistrust that Europe has in the adoption of TCM.

However, the European Union research programme has funded a program called TCMCANCER to help identify compounds present in Chinese herbal medicines for cancer treatment (Ping-Chung 2015). This is a sign that Europe is keen on TCM and which has various uses including being a pharmaceutical drug, an active pharmaceutical ingredient, dietary supplement or a healthcare product.

Conclusion

In order to promote the global use of TCM, the relevant industry players, the government, and research institutions must establish a global platform for the development of TCM. Efforts to test and develop are only done domestically in China and most times, these study results are not communicated and published in other countries. This is why regions like the EU, despite heavily adopting the use of Chinese medicines, have not fully accepted it and are tightening the noose on policies that allow easy entry of these medicines in their countries. Proper internationalization will also provide opportunities to other nations to develop their own traditional medicines as well as incorporate it into other treatment.

References

Dr. Chan M., 2016. The contribution of traditional Chinese medicine to sustainable development: Keynote address at the International Conference on the Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Available at https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2016/chinese-medicine-sustainable/en/. [Accessed 31 Jan. 2019].

Fleischer, T., Su, Y.C. & Lin, S.J.S., 2017. How do government regulations influence the ability to practice Chinese herbal medicine in western countries? Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 196, pp.104-109.

Lin, A.X., Chan, G., Hu, Y., Ouyang, D., Ung, C.O.L., Shi, L. & Hu, H., 2018. Internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine: current international market, internationalization challenges, and prospective suggestions. Chinese medicine, 13(1), p.9.

Liu, C., 2016. Reflections on TCM modernization and TCM international development. China Pharm, 27(11), pp.1441-4.Medical Network, 2016. The export of Chinese medicine decreased by 10% in 2016 [EB/OL]. 2016. Available at: http://news.pharmnet.com.cn/news/2017/02/15/463976.html. [Accessed 31 Jan 2018].

Ping-Chung, L. ed., 2015. Comprehensive Guide to Chinese Medicine, A. World Scientific.

Wang, M. & Franz, G., 2015. The role of the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph Eur) in quality control of traditional Chinese herbal medicine in European member states. World J Tradit Chin Med, 1(1), pp.5-15.

Wu, G., 2015. International opportunities and challenges of Chinese medicine. Co-op Econ Sci, 11, pp.83-84.Zhang B., 2016. For the future: the world needs traditional Chinese medicine. J Fourth Mil Med Univ. ;37 (1), p 1-4.