At the invitation of the Malaysian TCM team of COVID-19 containment, the anti-epidemic medical expert team from China to Malaysia held a discussion session with the local TCM practitioners in Kuala Lumpur on April 22 to communicate how to apply TCM in the fight against COVID-19.

About 150 participants from Department of Chinese Medicine at the University of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysian Chinese Medical Association, Malaysian Medical Association and pharmaceutical companies were involved.

Li Jun, head of the team and vice president of Guangdong Provincial TCM Hospital, shared his experience in the dialectic TCM treatment with mild, moderate and asymptomatic cases and in prevention. He shared his ideas of diagnosis, treatment and TCM formulas since the climate and the way of living in Malaysia are quite similar to those in Guangdong. He also introduced some TCM approaches, such as scraping, acupuncture, moxibustion and health diet. 

Luo Xiaodan, an associate chief doctor of infectious disease with Guangdong People’s Hospital, gave a presentation on the hygiene and healthcare for the convalescents returning home. Liu Xiangxin, a psychologist with Guangdong People’s Hospital, introduced the potential mental problems arising among the COVID-19 patients and their families and the way out.

Lai Yixing, a Malaysian TCM practitioner, said that he noticed that the Chinese government issued the National Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol of COVID-19 (Trial Version 7), which was very good. However, the diagnosis and treatment used in Guangdong and shared in the video conference might be more suitable for Malaysia.

With a large population of Chinese in Malaysia, the tradition of using TCM for disease treatment and health care is well preserved. Chen Jinggang, manager of a local TCM company, introduced that the sales volume increased by 50% since the COVID-19 outbreak. Some components used in Lung Cleansing and Detoxification Decoction were out of stock. According to the local context, the local TCM practitioners also developed some heat clearing and detoxification formulas.

In these days, the Chinese team have already visited the designated hospitals in Malaysia and other related research institutes, where they communicated with the Malaysian colleagues about how to admit patients, manage in-patients and protect themselves.