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HEALTH
Chinese medical experts tell British doctors how to slice NHS medicine bill
NHS dips toe into the Orient
EAST is east and west is west, but will
the two ever meet in medicine?
The answer coming from the Chi-
nese Medical Council (CMC) -
which met to discuss the prospect of
integrating 5,000 year-old eastern
practices into the NHS - is a resound-
ing yes: it's time to start taking Chi-
nese medicine seriously.
Speaking at last Saturday's confer-
ence - organised my Professor Man
Fong Mei, chief executive of the influ-
ential Acumedic centre in Camden
High Street and chair of the CMC -
health experts agreed that Chinese
medicine could save the NHS millions
of pounds a year by cutting the drugs
bill.
Chinese medicine, which includes
acupuncture and herbal remedies,
treats the cause of illness while west-
ern medicine tends to treat the symp-
toms. By trying to prevent illness
by TOM FOOT
rather than alleviate it, eastern tech-
niques are more likely to stop sickness
re-occurring.
It is thought Chinese medicine,
used as a complimentary therapy, can
cure some chronic disease, acute mus-
cular pain and palliative disease more
effectively than western medicine.
But despite being popular with the
public, large sections of the medical
profession remain sceptical of herbal
remedies.
British doctors at the conference
said they feared some eastern reme-
dies were contaminated with toxic
herbs and dangerous levels of metal.
They say because of the nature of the
medicines - sometimes containing 20
ingredients in each remedy - doctors
do not know exactly what they are
dealing with and would not be able to
understand patients' symptoms prop-
erly.
Some GPs say they cannot recom-
mend Chinese medicine because the
shops selling the goods are unregis-
tered and unreliable. They want all
Chinese medicine regulated properly
by EU standards before they are inte-
grated into the NHS.
But leading Chinese health journal-
ist Philip Xie said the European regu-
lators did not understand Chinese
medicine and would do a bad job in
regulating it.
He said: "Chinese people feel
annoyed that westerners are sceptical
of eastern practices. Why should they
regulate something they don't under-
stand?
"We don't want the regulation to be
carried out by people who don't
understand the system. There is a
clash of cultures - one side will have to
Camden New Journal 25 August 2005
give way." He added: "Regulating
Chinese herbal medicine is a huge and
almost impossible task because of the
number of ingreclients that go into
each remedy. I'm sure the CMC can-
not afford to regulate the drugs so it
will have to be done in Europe."
Professor 'Benny' Mei, who also
runs post-graduate courses in Chinese
medicine at Hampstead's Royal Free
Hospital, echoed Xie's frustration. He
said; "We have 5,000 years of experi-
ence, but Chinese and herbal medi-
cine must cross a big hurdle when it
comes to safety. We want a good code
of practice and research. But no med-
icine is absolutely safe and Chinese
people are frustrated and feel Euro-
peans are trying to stifle Chinese med-
icine through regulation. We accept
western medicine in the east, why
should Chinese herbal medicine not
be given a proper place here?"
Mike O' Farrell, chairman of the
British Acupuncture Association, said
the main problem was ignorance.
He said: "Acupuncture has become
accepted by doctors. But there is still a
suspicion about the course of the
herbs.This is not the time to challenge
the EU about regulations. It is time to
go on a charm offensive."
Professor Mei added: "The NHS
and the CMC can work together. The
only way to move forward is if western
safety standards are kept but the Chi-
nese expertise and philosophy must be
maintained."
The Foster Review, set up in June
2005, is currendy investigating the
possibility of integrating Chinese
medicine into the NHS. Its findings
are due to be released in November.
Pictured: Delegates to the confer-
ence, which was held at Guy's Hospi-
tal in London Bridge.