World’s first TCM evidence-based medical center established

BEIJING — The Chinese traditional medicine (TCM) evidence-based medical center, the world’s first organization of such kind, was officially established on March 12 in the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (CACMS).

The center will pool together efforts of CACMS and other organizations like Beijing University of Chinese Medicine for TCM evidence-based research.

Evidence-based medicine is a widely-used approach in medical practice that is intended to optimize decision-making in treating individual patients by emphasizing the use of evidence from well-designed and well conducted research.

Under this approach, clinical evidence serves as the main basis for evaluating effectiveness and safety of treatment. Though increasingly recognized around the world, TCM still lacks evidence justifying its clinical effectiveness and safety, which according to experts hinders it from “going global.”

“Evidence-based medical studies evaluate the clinical verifiability and effectiveness of a medical theory with scientific examination and analysis,” said Huang Luqi, academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of CACMS, at an event on March 12 marking the center’s establishment.

Combining evidence-based medical studies and TCM’s features will help enhance clinical effectiveness of TCM, as well as provide opportunities for TCM to prove its medical values to the world, Huang said.

Former Director-General of World Health Organization Margaret Chan said TCM had served the health needs of people in China and beyond for several thousand years and its safety and effectiveness deserved to be recognized.

There should not be barriers between TCM and western medicine, which both should join forces to serve people’s health needs, she said.