Chinese Medicine Offer Fails To Lure Covid Affected

The majority of Covid-19 patients discharged from local public hospitals have stayed away from a Chinese medicine service provided by the Hospital Authority – despite being offered free treatment.

Since late April, the authority has been offering Chinese medicine services to Covid patients discharged from public hospitals.

Recovering patients can get 10 free out-patient sessions within six months of their discharge.

But the authority said among 2,800 discharged patients who have been invited to use the programme, only 411 have taken up the offer so far.

Most of the patients who turned up for sessions were aged between 50 and 69.

Practitioners of the traditional medicine under the authority say what they offer can be effective in treating some Covid-related problems, such as insomnia and a decline in the sense of smell.

Professor Bian Zhaoxiang from Baptist University said their preliminary findings demonstrate this.

“Based on our observation, we found the Chinese medicine treatment is better in improving those symptoms like gastrointestinal symptoms...from current data, this support and treatment is very effective,” he said.

The chief of the authority’s Chinese Medicine Department, Rowena Wong, said she wouldn't say that the participation rate is low.

"The participation rate is about around 9 percent. We have not estimated if this participation is low or high," she said.

"I think it's quite difficult or it's not appropriate for us for now to say people are not choosing Chinese medicine because they don't like it or they don't trust it, so I cannot make any conclusion at this moment."