A prescription for health

China is promoting its traditional medicine overseas but is discovering many obstacles to entering the global market. Xu Lin reports. Jiang Yuechun turned to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) after Western treatments failed to remove dozens of flat warts coating the backs of her hands. The 31-year-old university teacher in Beijing says the warts shriveled away without scarring after she imbibed a porridge of coix seeds (a tropical grain). She is among many Chinese seeking TCM treatments in place of modern Western remedies at a time when her homeland is promoting the internationalization of its traditional medicine - already regularly used in about 140 countries but part of the healthcare systems of only a few. China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) earmarks financial support for TCM's globalization. It also outlines plans for TCM's development and industry regulation. "Despite TCM's popularity overseas, only a handful of countries, such as Singapore, legally recognize it," the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine's former president Long Zhixian says. "Few countries include TCM in their healthcare systems." Artemisinin - a southernwood extract used to treat malaria - is the only TCM widely accepted abroad, mostly in Africa, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine professor Gao Xuemin says. The World Health Organization lists it in its essential medicines catalogue. Several other traditional remedies, including those for cardiovascular diseases, are undergoing clinical testing overseas and may soon be approved for international use.