TCM practice guideline for COVID-19

The Chinese Medicine Task Force of Malaysia (COVID-19) and Beijing Tong Ren Tang Global Expert Group for COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment jointly released the “Malaysia COVID-19 Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practice Guideline (1st trial version)” 《马来西亚新型冠状病毒肺炎中医药防治方案（试行第一版）》 on 2 May 2020.

According to the initiator of the Chinese Medicine Task Force of Malaysia (COVID-19), Dr Te Kian Keong, who is also UTAR’s Head of Department of Chinese Medicine and Chairperson of Centre for Research in Traditional Chinese Medicine, this guideline was developed based on the TCM knowledge of the clinical manifestations and disease progression of COVID-19. It aimed to serve as a reference for the TCM researchers who are participating in the anti-epidemic research. He also said that this may be the first TCM prevention and treatment plan for COVID-19 released outside of China.

Furthermore, the guideline integrates Chinese medicine practitioners’ practical experience in applying TCM in the fight against COVID-19, including TCM application for prevention, recovery period, suspected and confirmed cases. It has taken reference from the “Guangdong Province COVID-19 TCM Treatment Protocol (2nd trial version)” 《广东省新型冠状病毒肺炎中医药治疗方案（试行第二版）》 which was jointly issued by the Health Commission of Guangdong Province and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Bureau of Guangdong Province from the People's Republic of China (PRC); the “Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for COVID-19 (trial version 7)” 《新型冠状病毒肺炎诊疗方案（试行第七版）》 jointly issued by the National Health Commission of PRC and National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine from PRC as well as the protocol from some successful areas in PRC.

This guideline was completed by the Task Force and the expert group together with the effort and the guidance of Head of Anti-COVID-19 Medical Consultant Expert Team from China to Malaysia Dr Li Jun and Deputy Dean of Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital Prof Shang Dong as well as their teams, and was approved by Beijing Tong Ren Tang Global Expert Group for COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment which was led by China's national TCM master, Tang Zuxuan.

Anyone who is interested may access the Guideline by referring to the Facebook of the Task Force (Chinese Medicine task force Malaysia - Covid-19) or clicking the following link: http://sg.mikecrm.com/xCqqC4w

The Task Force was established on 22 March 2020. Among the members are UTAR Department of Chinese Medicine and Alumni of Chinese Medicine; Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Expert Committee of Education Association between Malaysia and China; Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Malaysia Alumni Association (BUCMMAA); and School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xiamen University Malaysia.

The Task Force recently organised the “China-Malaysia International Conference on COVID-19: Prevention and Treatment of Integrative Medicine” in collaboration with Institute (College) of Integrative Medicine of Dalian Medical University. The conference involved experience sharing from Prof Shang Dong and other TCM experts on the superiority of TCM and initiatives taken in aiding the treatment of COVID-19. A virtual conference titled “China-Malaysia TCM join hands to fight against COVID-19” was also organised to share TCM knowledge on the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The conference involved presentations from members of the Anti-COVID-19 Medical Consultant Expert Team led by Dr Li as well as a discussion session with local traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners, association and institutions.

From left: Dr Te and Dr Li during the discussion