Efforts to promote the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) should not only focus on overseas markets. The home market, especially the vast rural market, is also one that needs to be further tapped.

A vice-minister of health announced yesterday that trying out TCM in the ongoing rural co-operative healthcare scheme will be one of their priorities.

Though some 108.9 million urban residents across China were covered by a basic medical insurance network at the end of last year, the health network is still incomplete and is especially fragile in China's rural areas.

The central government decided to set up an effective welfare system to offer healthcare to 900 million farmers.

However, lack of funding has prevented the basic co-operative healthcare scheme from taking root in many rural areas.

A practical approach to initiate such schemes is a matter of urgency. In particular, the State has vowed to build a relatively affluent Chinese society in the next two decades, and a key aspect of this goal is to raise the living standards and quality of life for Chinese farmers, who account for about 70 per cent of the population.

It is roughly estimated that 90 per cent of Chinese farmers have to pay medical expenses by themselves, while the figure for urban dwellers is 60 per cent. But farmers' incomes are less than one-third that of urban residents. As a result, many farmers are unable to afford medical treatment.

Before Western-style medicine was introduced in China, Chinese people were dependent on traditional medicine.

In comparison with Western-style medicine which often requires expensive medical equipment, TCM generally comes at a lower cost.

Such a cost difference is very important especially in poor rural areas where farmers can be easily thrown back into poverty by medical burdens.

Obviously, before the State can raise adequate funds to establish an all-inclusive healthcare insurance system in rural areas, efforts to substantially cut down medical costs are badly needed to ensure basic health services for farmers.

At present, about 70 per cent of counties across the country have established TCM hospitals, and 70 per cent of public health centres in towns offer such centuries-old therapies.

Enhancing its application in rural areas may also boost the development of TCM.

China has developed both Western-style medicine and TCM while encouraging the combination of Chinese and Western medicine.

Yet, the lack of standards and accurate statistics on ingredients and effectiveness has restricted TCM from entering the fast-growing global market as well as prevailing in the domestic market.

Scientific research and industrialized production processes have thus become buzzwords in recent years when seeking ways for TCM to consolidate its position in domestic and overseas markets.

Industrialization of TCM is surely of vital significance.

The remarkable curative effect of TCM against some chronic disease as well as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and its potential role in combating AIDS all indicate a bright future for the development of TCM.

Yet its ultimate success depends not on how much profit it can make but how many patients it can cure.

The under-funded health market in the country's rural areas is clearly one of the places where TCM is most needed now.

　　From ChinaDaily.com