Political process and the integration of traditional and western medicine in the people's Republic of China

Abstract

One of the major health policies in the People's Republic of China since the Communist Revolution in 1949 has been an unique effort to integrate Chinese Traditional and Western-style medicine. Mao Tse-tung called for a ‘United Front’ of the two medical approaches for reasons of cultural pride, economic necessity and political obligation. An analyses of this policy is presented combining previous discussions of the issue with material collected in the PRC in 1979. Four possible modes of response to the policy are hypothesized and data analyzed to suggest which mode they fit. It is suggested that four modes of response could have been, and continue to be, Total Integration, Selective Integration. Assimilation or Rejection. Data collected include (1) personal statements on preference for Traditional or Western medicine, (2) examples of institutional approaches to integration, (3) lists of conditions being treated with one or combined approaches and (4) examples of the teaching of Traditional medicine. The current status of the original policy is described based on a briefing at the China Medical Association. With reference to the implementation of the Integration policy, the tentative conclusion is that throughout the PRC health care system. Traditional medicine is subordinate to a Western medical frame of reference and Western-style practitioners. Selective integration is the typical mode of response.