Hong Kong hospital takes first step towards integrated medicine

A public hospital in Hong Kong has launched a pilot project to use a combination of Western and traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients with five chronic conditions.

At the end of September Kwong Wah Hospital will make 110 beds available for inpatients to be treated simultaneously by Western and Chinese medical practitioners for diabetic foot; nausea and weakened immunity from chemotherapy; post-stroke convulsions; chronic pain; and allergic rhinitis.

The integrative medicine team comprises eight practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, mostly retired professors from mainland China, and seven doctors, including an orthopaedic surgeon, a …