Chinese Medicine Abroad
In Germany, the first German TCM Research Institute, founded in April 1998, has become a renowned institute with a strong record. It is also Germany's first TCM research institute attached to an emergency hospital; such bodies usually only appear in nursing or rehabilitation hospitals. The institute has so far given TCM treatment to a thousand patients, with good clinical results.
The Swiss federal government recently decided that TCM should function within the Swiss medical system as a complement to Western medicine. From 1999 onward, the cost of seeing a TCM practitioner can be reimbursed through medical insurance. For a foreign government to fix in writing — in the form of medical insurance — the place of Chinese traditional medicine is rare indeed. The Swiss government's decision is grounded in the fact that 70% of Swiss already trust TCM, and that TCM medicines are inexpensive, which can save on insurance spending.
The Delphi Medical Academy, founded in 1979 with Swedish royal-government approval, offers TCM, acupuncture, integrated medicine, and Western medicine. To date more than a thousand have received a degree in TCM or acupuncture.
From Hubei TCM Information, January 2000.