Traditional Chinese herbal medicine will not be used to treat
athletes during the Olympics in order to avoid doping problems, an
official with the Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games
(BOCOG) said Saturday.
"It doesn't necessarily mean herbal medicine contains
provocative substances. As other Olympic host countries haven't
used it before, we choose not to use it too," said Dai Jianping,
deputy director of the BOCOG's service department, at an
international medical forum.
As a big international event, the Beijing Olympics will follow
international medical service standards, Dai said.
However, non-drug traditional Chinese treatments, such as
acupuncture, cupping and massage, will be used in the Games, he
added.
He also said at the forum that a poly-clinic will be constructed
inside the athlete's village, providing medical services for some
16,000 athletes from all over the world in 2008.
The clinic will be able to provide magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI), dental service and physical therapy to athletes who come
across health problems during the Olympics, he said.
"It has a 24-hour working schedule, and all the services are for
free as Beijing promised to the International Olympic Committee,"
he said.
The 3,000-square-meter poly-clinic, which will finish
construction by the end of April 2008, will ease the medical
service pressure of hospitals which will still provide normal
service to local people during the big event.
A total of 28 dedicated hospitals, 219 venue medical stations
and ambulance stations will be used into the health care services
in 2008, and 3,000 medical volunteers, mostly students from medical
colleges and institutions, will be trained to provide medical care
along with professional doctors and nurses.
(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2007)