XN000022-1995-11-13 — Page 21

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Control on traditional Chinese Medicine gains public support

The Government's approach in recognising and regulating traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has received wide and enthusiastic support from the profession and from the public at large, the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, said today (Monday).

Speaking at the opening of Regional Workshop on Traditional Medicine, Mrs Fok said in Hong Kong, though the mainstay of health care remained to be western medicine, TCM served as an important and common means of health maintenance for the public.

"TCM is an integral part of Chinese culture. Through many centuries of clinical experience, TCM has become an established set of therapeutic modalities, with its own distinct theoretical basis," she said.

"A survey in 1991 indicated that some 60 per cent of the population have consulted TCM practitioners at one time or another.

"An even higher proportion of the population use Chinese medicinal materials in their diets or as health tonics from time to time.

"There is no doubt that TCM is extremely popular in our locality." she added.

Mrs Fok pointed out that the development of traditional medicine had long been supported by the World Health Organisation.

"We, in Hong Kong, are also eager to develop TCM with the objectives of not only to safeguard public health but also to promote a more systematic and focused development," she said.

"With enthusiastic participation from academics and traditional Chinese medicine profession, good progress is being made."

She noted the Government had set up a Working Party on Chinese Medicine to review and make recommendation on the safe use and practice of TCM in Hong Kong.

Based on the Working Party's recommendation, a Preparatory Committee on Chinese Medicine (PCCM) was appointed in April to advise on a statutory framework for TCM in Hong Kong.