Traditional Chinese Medicine gets WHO Nod.

Quack Track       Representative Image  –  Pixabay

QT Staff    May 29, 2019

Traditional Chinese medicine has an important place in the Chinese people’s cultural legacy and has made great contributions to the healthcare in china. With a history of several thousand years, it is the result of the rich experiences of the Chinese people’s fight against diseases. These medicines are being used by people around the world.

Although Traditional Chinese medicine has been practiced for centuries, its acceptance into mainstream global health was met with challenges.

But now, The World Health Assembly, the governing body of the World Health Organization, on Saturday formally approved the 11^th version of its global compendium known as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) which includes traditional Chinese medicine for the first time.

Around 400 traditional Chinese medicine diagnoses have been added to the current volume. This is a huge win for China as their leaders were lobbying for the same since many years.

The Conservationists have accused the WHO of giving a stamp of approval for further endangering animals such as tiger, pangolin, bear, rhino etc by adopting Chinese remedies in its volume.

It is believed that this decision of the WHO could contribute to the extinction of many endangered species.

The ‘Scientific American‘magazine called the move “an egregious lapse in evidence-based thinking and practice.”

The WHO clarified that including traditional Chinese medicine in the guide doesn’t mean it condones the use of endangered animals protected by international law.

The move has surprised scientists across the world as most Chinese Herbal medicines are not tested systematically and their efficacy is not proven.