Feature: Traditional Chinese Medicine gains popularity in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has become increasingly popular among Cambodian patients thanks to its efficacy and safety.

At the Chinese Medicine Clinic of the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital here in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, scores of patients were waiting for their turns to have their health checked up and remedied by a team of TCM medical aid experts.

A Phnom Penh resident Kim Nay, 71, who has had shingles and numbness in her arms for more than a year, has got better from her illness after using TCM.

"Previously, I could not clench my fists, but now I can clench them tightly," she told Xinhua while revisiting the TCM experts for follow-up medical care.

"I hope I will recover from this disease. That's why I have come here very often," Nay said. "Chinese TCM doctors are very trusted. That's why a lot of Cambodian patients have visited them for checkups and treatment."

TCM is efficacious in healing issues such as osteoporosis, insomnia, infertility, pain, chronic cough, bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and interstitial lung disease.

It consists of therapies such as acupuncture, moxibustion, and Tuina remedial massage.

Another Phnom Penh resident Chhiv Neang, 77, said she came for a free TCM diagnosis and treatment after she learned from other patients that TCM is efficacious and safe.

"I have suffered a stroke that left me paralyzed (for almost a year), and my hands are unmovable at all," she told Xinhua.

"Someone told me that I could recover if I underwent acupuncture treatment, so I came here to try it. If I can recover, I will be elated," Neang said. "I hope to recover because I saw other patients recovering from their illness after undergoing acupuncture treatment."

Tan Sokun, director of the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital, said China has sent its TCM medical aid team to help Cambodia fight the COVID-19 pandemic at the hospital since March 2022.

Since then, two batches of the TCM medical aid team had completed their missions in the Southeast Asian country, he added.

Sokun said the first batch TCM medical aid team had accepted about 9,600 Cambodian patients from March 2022 to mid-2023, and the second batch team had provided clinical services to some 11,175 patients from mid-2023 to date.

"TCM has gained its popularity in Cambodia, thanks to its efficacy and safety in treating a number of diseases," he told Xinhua on Tuesday. "It's just over two years, more than 20,000 Cambodian people have received TCM treatment."

He said besides providing clinical services to patients, the TCM medical aid team had also organized short-term training courses for hundreds of local medical practitioners.

Yuan Geng, leader of the TCM medical aid team for Cambodia, said his second batch comprises a total of eight TCM experts, starting their mission on July 4, 2023.

"Our average outpatient volume is currently around 30 people per day, with a peak of over 70 people," he told Xinhua. "The monthly average outpatient volume is around 600 to 700 people."

Yuan added that after two years, the TCM medical aid team has made more people trust TCM's effectiveness and be fond of these therapies.

"So, I believe that the increase in outpatient volume is closely related to the patients' recognition of traditional Chinese medicine," he said.