By: Mohamed Sahr
As part of the free Clinic by the 25th batch of the China Medical Team in Sierra Leone, Leone Afric, a Chinese company has launched Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), focusing on various therapies, including herbs, acupuncture, and dietary adjustments, to restore balance and harmony within the body on Tuesday, November 5th, 2024, at the Bintumani Hotel in Freetown.
The team emphasized that the therapeutic method used by Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture involves inserting fine needles at specific acupoints on the body to stimulate meridians, aiming to regulate Qi (vital energy) and unblock energy pathways.
Leone Afric said TCM is commonly used for pain relief, immune enhancement, and chronic illness treatment, as well as for promoting overall physical and mental well-being.
Making his remark, Dr Charles Senessie, Deputy Minister of Health 1, said China serves as a beacon to the country’s progress, especially in healthcare delivery. He added that the government of the People’s Republic of China has stood by the country in crisis outbreaks and natural and man-made catastrophes and has shared a vision of the country’s healthcare delivery system.
Dr Senessie said, “We respect traditional medicine” and have a department dedicated to it in the country’s healthcare system. “I’m here to say that we believe in it… and we want to have that integrated approach to healthcare in this country.”
He added that they work with people all over the globe in the area of traditional medicine. “So we have lots of engagements in the African traditional medicine, and then the Chinese, Asian ones are coming on board.”
Zhang Dianbin, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Sierra Leone, said that by 2023, China had sent a Medical Team to 76 countries and regions, and almost every medical team had at least one traditional Chinese medicine doctor.
Dianbin stated that their superb skills and good services have won wide praise from local people. He said, “Our traditional Chinese medicine doctors here in Sierra Leone have also been widely recognized by people who visit Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital and were even highly appraised by H. E. President Julius Maada Bio and his family.”
He said that this year, they have supported the China Medical Team in establishing a “Traditional Chinese Medicine Centre” in the Friendship Hospital, which now has two treating rooms and eight treating beds.
He added that plans were underway to add another two traditional Chinese medicine doctors to the Chinese medical team next year to provide more treatment materials and train more local traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. This would better develop this center and benefit Sierra Leoneans in pain.
