Economic Herald:
Everyone is very concerned about the current epidemic situation. How can we increase the cure rate and reduce fatality rate? What role can traditional Chinese medicine play in this respect? Thank you.
Yu Yanhong:
The previous experience of treating the epidemic shows that the early intervention of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the combination of traditional Chinese and western medicine are important methods to increase the cure rate and decrease the fatality rate. I will address the role of TCM in three aspects.
First, early intervention and treatment. For early intervention, TCM should be given to close contacts and susceptible groups to improve immunity and prevent and reduce infection. For early treatment, TCM treatment can be applied among people infected with COVID-19 in the early stage. Treating patients with mild symptoms can help control the increase of severe cases and increase the cure rate.
Second, the combination of traditional Chinese and western medicine. The consultation of Chinese and western medicine practitioners will be further promoted to draw on the strengths of TCM in diagnosis and treatment, as well as those of western medicine in antiviral treatment and respiratory support. This will consequently reduce complications and the fatality rate.
Third, classified treatments. Different treatment methods should be adopted for different stages of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. The sixth edition of the national diagnosis and treatment plan is based on the efficacy of treating, observing, and optimizing guided by the previous versions. Medical staff should implement it well to achieve standardization and homogeneity.
In the next step, we will further implement and refine TCM and western medicine combination, continuously improve our treatment plan by combining TCM and western medicine, and make it play a greater role in medical treatment.
Xi Yanchun:
The last question.
