Beijing, February 01 (QNA) - China has asked its general and specialized hospitals to step up Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) service capacity due to the unique advantages of TCM in the treatment of COVID-19 infections.

A notice that was made public by the State Council inter-agency task force for COVID-19 response and published by Chinese news agency (Xinhua) stated that general hospitals at or above the grade-two level and specialized hospitals should establish a working mechanism for the integrated use of Chinese and Western medicine in treating COVID-19 infections, and should make further improvements.

The document underscored the establishment of hospital-level expert groups composed of TCM and Western medicine doctors to jointly carry out multidisciplinary consultations, and study and determine the treatment measures for severe and critically ill patients, among other tasks.

It also stipulated that, in treating severe and critically ill patients, prepared slices of Chinese crude drugs, TCM techniques and ready-for-use TCM, including TCM injections, should be actively and rationally used.

(QNA)