Less than 50,000 Qualified TCM Doctors at Village Clinics: National Investigation

A recent national investigation¹ has discovered that less than 50,000 professionals with qualifications in traditional Chinese medicine are working at village clinics in China's vast rural areas where TCM is more widely recognized than in big cities.

As Su Yi reports, the challenges that traditional medical practices now face also come from its lack of recognition and the predominance of new medical technologies.

 The investigation reveals that more than one-third of China's county-level health centers and more than 40 percent of village clinics are unable to provide any TCM services.

Among the village clinics that do provide TCM treatment, most of their doctors do not have the necessary qualifications to practice it.

Yu Wenming is Vice² Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the state TCM regulator that carried out the investigation.

"Our TCM service network is far from mature, which extremely lacks qualified³ and well-trained practitioners⁴ and cannot meet the needs (of the people)."

The report was based on the investigation predicts that China will need more than 500-thousand TCM practitioners nationwide in the next five years.

While on the other hand, more than 50-thousand TCM practitioners in Europe lost their jobs following a ban on sales of such medicines in the EU in May.

Not a single Chinese pharmaceutical⁵ company has managed to become registered in the EU in the past seven years. China's Chamber⁶ of Commerce of Medicines blames this on the high registration⁷ fee, which can be as high as one million yuan for each medicine or type of treatment.

In an effort to increase their recognition, TCM hospitals and clinics are combining traditional treatment methods with new technologies.

One female patient says this is a good idea.

From 2007 to 2009, the number of TCM diagnosis⁸ and treatment facilities more than doubled. More than 500 Chinese manufacturing companies are now exploiting this market.

But the investigation also found that some TCM hospitals and clinics often do not provide TCM services at all.
Yu Wenming says the situation is not encouraging.

"We are tightening⁹ the supervision¹⁰ over TCM clinics to check whether they are actually performing TCM services. Our investigation has found that it is because non-TCM services can generate more profit. I think increasing subsidies¹¹ to TCM practitioners can change this situation."

Yu also says stricter supervision does not mean that the regulator will automatically reject innovations in TCM technologies.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

5 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

8 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

9 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

10 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

11 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》