On February 3, with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the "National science and technology emergency project - clinical research on the prevention and treatment of pneumonia caused by new coronavirus infection with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine" was officially launched. The project is an emergency project applied , approved and launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology in the front-line. Zhang Boli, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is in charge of the project. And 8 departments in 4 provinces led by Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and western medicine participate in the project.

At the launching ceremony, Zhang Boli introduced the original intention and purpose of the project, as well as the overall layout of five subjects in three directions. In the treatment of pneumonia caused by new coronavirus, TCM can play a role in a full course of treatment and all-round way. TCM and western medicine have complementary advantages and different emphases, and they can have a synergistic effect. At present, there is no effective drug for the treatment of pneumonia, so it is particularly important to treat patients with integrative TCM and western medicine. The purpose of this study is to serve clinical treatment firstly and scientific research secondly. Although the time is urgent, the discipline of scientific research should still be adhered to. Researchers must be rigorous and meticulous, and scientific research should be done well at the same time of service and treatment.

Liu Qingquan, a project leader and professor of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, introduced the specific content of the project. The project took the patients infected by the new coronavirus in the designated hospital as the research object, adopted the clinical epidemiological investigation method to investigate the syndrome of the related patients, and adopted the clinical trial and cohort study method to evaluate the clinical effect of the integration of TCM and western medicine clinical value. The project will focus on the TCM syndrome characteristics and evolution law of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus, the clinical efficacy advantage of the integration of TCM and western medicine in the treatment of common pneumonia (mild case), the clinical value of severe and critical pneumonia, and the therapeutic schedule and effect of different types of pneumonia.

Tong Xiaolin, a project leader and academician, introduced the main contents of community prevention and control and rehabilitation program in convalescence.

At present, the project has been registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Register. Medical institutions in Hubei Province, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Guangdong Province participated in the study. Evidence-based Medicine Center of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Clinical Research Institute of Peking University participated in the project design and provided methodological support. At present, the research team has completed the construction of the research database and the training of medical personnel, and formally started to include the cases.

The novel coronavirus outbreak has a great impact on people's health and social stability. There is no specific and effective cure to the coronavirus, but mainly symptomatic support treatment. How to form a rapid and effective treatment plan is a major problem at present. In the first time, the Ministry of Science and Technology organized and coordinated the dominant scientific research forces in the whole country, and quickly launched the emergency scientific research on the epidemic pneumonia infected by the new coronavirus. TCM has a good curative effect on viral pneumonia. It has shown some therapeutic advantages in the prevention and treatment of SARS, such as potential advantage in antipyretic, control of lung exudation, stabilization of blood oxygen saturation, reduction of hormone dosage and so on. Aiming at the  novel coronavirus, there has been some experience in the treatment of the integrative TCM and western medicine. In order to further improve the clinical cure rate, reduce the mortality rate, promote the recovery in convalescence, and play the role of TCM in the whole process. there still need to further deepen the research on the syndrome of the disease and optimize the scheme of syndrome differentiation, standardize the clinical treatment, 

At the launching ceremony, Yan Shujiang, Vice Commissioner of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, delivered an important speech. He fully affirmed the significance of this research, and required that the research should be done while outputting, clinical research results should play a guiding role in a timely manner. It was also required to optimize the diagnosis and treatment scheme of TCM, improve the treatment effect, and write the paper on the anti-virus front-line.