中央指导组成员、卫生健康委党组成员、中医药局党组书记余艳红(湖北日报 蔡俊 摄)
国务院新闻办公室于3月6日(星期五)下午4时在湖北武汉举行新冠肺炎疫情防控救治进展情况新闻发布会。中央指导组成员、国家卫生健康委党组成员、中医药局党组书记余艳红出席发布会并答记者问。
美国有线电视新闻CNN记者：我们注意到，中国政府发布的诊疗方案也好、官方声明也好，甚至是官方媒体的报道都大力强调了中医药的作用，包括多种中医药的明显疗效，甚至有通过纯中医治疗出院的病例。与此同时，世界卫生组织的专家上周在北京的新闻发布会上尤其提到，目前为止，唯一一种被证明可能对抗病毒有效的是一款西药，来自美国的瑞德西韦。我的问题就是，中方在有关中医药方面的立场和观点，是否和世卫组织矛盾?中方的科学根据在哪里?有关通过中医治疗而好转或者出院的病例会不会是一种自愈的结果呢?谢谢。
余艳红：非常感谢您对中医药在这次疫情防控中作用发挥的关心。中国诊疗方案是中医和西医共同并肩战“疫”、共同智慧的结晶。在治疗方案中，中医有比较重要的地位，这是坚持中西医并重的中国卫生健康工作方针，也是中医药的疗效决定的。您的问题关注在疗效上，我从三个方面谈一谈。
首先，中医药防治瘟疫有着独特的理论和实践。鉴于早期防治新冠肺炎没有特效药和疫苗，运用中医药防治瘟疫的实践经验和技术方法，发挥中医药整体调节、提高免疫的作用，激发自身的抗病能力和康复能力，是一种有效的治疗方法。在近年的抗击SARS、甲流中，都已经证明了中医药的作用。正如中医常讲的，“正气存内，邪不可干”。
第二，大量病人治愈出院的事实充分证明，中西医结合效果显著。目前5万余名确诊患者出院了，大多数患者使用了中医药。专家团队研究证实，中西医结合与单纯使用中药和西药相比，能较快地改善发热、咳嗽、乏力等症状，缩短住院天数，提高核酸转阴率，有效减少轻型和普通型向重型、重型向危重型的发展，提高治愈率、减少病亡率。
我举几个例子，比如，轻型和普通型患者，一项452例患者的随机对照开放性试验显示，中西医结合在改善症状、提高核酸转阴率方面，显著优于单纯的西药组。另一项500例的临床队列研究显示，肺部CT影像明显改善，没有轻型转为重型。重症患者，一项75例的临床对照试验显示，中西药并用较单纯西药组相比，核酸转阴时间、住院时间平均缩短3天。危重症患者，中医和西医专家的联合会诊、辨证论治后，中药在改善血氧饱和度、抑制炎症风暴等方面有积极的作用。国家卫生健康委和国家中医药局成立了12个重症专家指导组，这就是中医和西医联合指导救治，深入推进中西医结合，提高治愈率、降低病亡率。
第三，您刚才讲到了，你们关注到了单纯使用中药治疗的病例。确实有，我们初步地总结了已经出院的近百例中医药治疗的病人，其中有不少病人都是重症，他们都是运用中药为主的治疗。
有关病例的研究和总结，我们正在进行中。
在这次疫情防控中，习近平总书记一直强调，要坚持中西医并重、中西医结合、中西药并用，我们愿意分享治疗新冠肺炎的“中国经验”、“中国方案”，让更多国家了解中医药、理解中医药，使用中医药。在我们中国，疫情发生的时候，我们有中医药，一用上中医药，老百姓症状就很快缓解，更多地增强了战胜疾病的信心和勇气。谢谢您的提问。
湖北卫视记者：能不能给我们普通老百姓解释一下，中医药是如何治疗新冠肺炎的?它有什么样的特色优势?谢谢。
余艳红：这是一个很好的问题。我在前面回答记者的问题时，已经介绍过中医和西医不同。中医药防治传染病，注重增强人体自身的抵抗力和修复能力，注重维护整体平衡，这使得中医药在应对那些病因不明确、缺乏疫苗和特效药物的传染病时，有自己的用武之地，提供了不一样的防治策略。
中医药在疫情爆发时，通过症状收集和临床分析，即可确定中医治疗方案，迅速用于临床救治，具有快速反应、迅速应对等优势。在这一次新冠肺炎疫情中，中医药的及早使用、快速改善症状，增强了患者战胜疾病的信心和勇气。
这次疫情发生后，中医专家从古代经典名方中汲取精华，结合临床诊疗的经验，迅速提出了中医方案，并且在临床中不断优化。根据方案，我们坚持早期使用，全程参与，精准施策，中医药深度介入预防、治疗、康复的全过程。
对于轻型和普通型患者，我们第一时间使用中药，对于重型和危重型患者，中医和西医专家联合会诊，中西药并用，发挥两种医学的叠加效应。对于恢复期人群，中药和针灸、按摩等方法并用，促进患者康复。
实践证明，中医药治疗新冠肺炎效果是很明确的。在国家最新颁布的第七版诊疗方案中，中医治疗的内容很丰富，既有通用方，也有针对不同病情、不同证型的方剂，还有中成药，体现了辨证与辨病的统一，理论与临床实践的统一，指导和规范的统一，是传承精华、守正创新的生动实践。我们很愿意让更多的老百姓了解中医药的方法，也很愿意和国际社会分享中医药的治疗经验。谢谢。
Yu Yanhong Introducing TCM’s Participation in the Epidemic Prevention,Control and Treatment in a Press Conference Held by the State Council Information Office
The State Council Information Office held a press conference in Wuhan, Hubei at 4:00pm on Friday, March 6th, introducing the progress in prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19. Yu Yanhong, member of the central steering group,member of the Leading Party Members' Group of National Health Commission, Secretary of the LeadingPartyMembers'Group of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicineattended the conference and answered questions from reporters.
Reporter with CNN: We noticed that the national diagnosis and treatment protocol，the official statements released by Chinese government and even the official media reports have strongly emphasized the efficacy of TCM in treating COVID-19, including the obvious curative effects of various TCM drugs, and even there are cases cured merely through TCM treatment. At the same time, experts from the World Health Organization mentioned in a press conference in Beijing last week that, there is only one drug right now that we think may have real effecacy, and that is Remdesivir from US. My questions are: Does China's position and views on TCM are contradictable tothose of WHO? What is the scientific basis of the Chinese side? Are the cases improved or discharged through TCM treatment the results of self-healing? Thank you.
Yu Yanhong: Thank you very much for your interest in the role TCM played in the prevention and control of the epidemic.The national diagnosis and treatment protocol is the joint effortof the wisdom of TCM and western medicine fighting the "epidemic", in which, TCM has a relatively important position. This is determined by sticking to the health workprinciple of attaching equal importance of TCM and western medicine, and the efficacy of TCM in treating COVID-19. Your question is most concerned aboutthe efficacy. I’ll elaborate it from three aspects.
First of all, TCM has unique theories and practice for containing plagues. In view of the fact that there werenotherapeutics and vaccines at the early stage of prevention and treatment of COVID-19, the practical experience and technical methods of TCM used to give full play to the overall regulation and improvement of immunity of human body, to stimulate itsimmune systemand recovery ability. It proved to be effective. In recent years, the efficacy of TCM has been proven in the fight against SARS and H1N1. As a famous TCM saying goes: “pathogenic factors are not able to work if healthy qi is sufficient in human body”.
Second, the fact that a large number of patients have been cured and discharged from hospital fully proves that the efficacy of integrated TCM and western medicine treatment is remarkable. At present, more than 50,000 confirmed patients have been discharged, and most of themused TCM. Expert teams’ research confirmed that compared with the exclusive medication ofTCM or western medicine, integrated TCM and western medicine treatment can improve symptoms such as fever, cough, fatigue more quickly, shorten the length of hospitalization, increase the rate of nucleic acidtestsconversing negative, and effectively reduce the progression of mild and moderate cases turning into severe ones, and severe cases turning into critical ones, thus increasing recovery rate and reduce mortality rate.
Let me givea few examples. For instance, for mild and moderate patients, a randomized controlled open trial of 452 patients shows that integrated TCM and western medicine treatment group is significantly better than exclusivewestern medicine treatment group in improving symptoms and increasing the rate of nucleic acid tests conversing negative. Another of clinical cohort study of 500 patients shows significant improvement in CT images of lungs, with no mild patients turning into severe ones. For severe patients, a clinical controlled trial of 75 patients shows that integrated TCM and western medicine treatment group, compared with exclusivewestern medicine treatment group, shortened nucleic acid tests conversing negative and hospitalization time by an average of 3 days. For critical patients, after joint consultation and syndrome differentiation of TCM and western medicine experts, their blood oxygen saturation improved and cytokine storms suppressed，showing that TCM played a positive role in treatment. National Health Commission and National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine have mobilized 12 steering groups consisting of expects dealing with severe cases to guild integrated TCM and western medicine treatment and promote in-depth integration, so to improve recovery rate and reduce mortality rate
Third, you mentioned just now that you noticed cases merely treated with TCM. Indeed, we have preliminarily summarized the treatment methods of nearly a hundred recovered patients, many of whom were severe patents. They wereall treated mainly with TCM.
We are still working on the case study and summaryright now.
In this epidemic prevention and control, General Secretary Xi Jinping has always emphasized that we must adhere to the principle of attaching equal importance of TCM and western medicine, integrating TCM treatment with western medicine treatment, and combining themedication of TCM and western medicine. We are willing to share the "Chinese experience" and "Chinese protocol" for the treatment of COVID-19 with other countries, so that more countries can get to know TCM, understand TCM and useit in treatment. In China, when the epidemic breaks out, we haveTCM treatment. As soon as TCM treatment is used, patents’ symptoms are immediately relieved, which further strengthens their confidence and courage to overcome the disease. Thank you for your question.
Reporter with Hubei TV:Could you explain to the public how to use TCM to treat COVID-19? What are the characteristics and advantages of TCM? Thank you.
Yu Yanhong:Good question. I have mentioned that TCM is different from western medicine when answering the last question. Using TCM to prevent and treat a communicable disease, doctors pay more attention to the immune system and the recovery ability of the body itself, to the holistic balance. This is why TCM could play the role in face of the communicable diseases with no identified pathology, no vaccine and no therapeutics, and provide a different prevention and treatment method.
When an epidemic breaks out, after symptoms collecting and clinical analysis, a TCM treatment could be identified and used in the clinical treatment. It is the advantage of TCM to give fast response. In the prevention and control of COVID-19, the early use of TCM helps to improve the symptoms quickly, hence strengthening the confidence and courage of the patients.
After the outbreak of COVID-19, the TCM experts, combining the selected classic formulas and the clinical experience, put forward quickly a TCM treatment protocol and optimized it continually. With the protocol, we adhere to the early use of TCM, its full-course intervention and precise implementation. TCM has played its role in the full course of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.
For the mild and moderate cases, we use TCM as soon as possible. For the severe and critical cases, we exert a duplicate effect of both TCM and western medicine by joint consultation of TCM and western doctors and joint medication of TCM and western medicine. For the convalescent, we use TCM medication, acupuncture and moxibustion, massage, etc. to help with their recovery.
It is proven that the effectiveness of TCM to COVID-19 is clear. In the updated the National Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol of COVID-19 (Trial Version 7 ), a plenty of TCM methods are included, such as general formulas, formulas to different types of cases and different syndromes, and TCM drugs. It is a vivid practice of inheriting the essence and innovating while keeping the legacy, showing the unity of syndrome differentiation and disease identification, the unity of theory and clinical practice, the unity of guidance and standards. We are very willing to tell more about the TCM methods to the public, to share the treating experience in TCM with the international community. Thank you.
Translated by Zhao Hong，Xu Jing，Wu Sufang
