Keynote 1: Integrating Evidence-Based Traditional Chinese Medicine into Western Medicine’s Clinical Practice

Keynote 1: Integrating Evidence-Based Traditional Chinese Medicine into Western Medicine’s Clinical Practice

Date: 6 July 2025, Sunday | Time: 0900 - 0930 | Venue: The NAK Auditorium, Academia 

Co-Chairs: Dr Fong Kok Yong, SingHealth and SGH

Speaker: Prof Liu Jianping (刘建平)

Back to 1950’s, China made a first attempt to incorporate traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with Western medicine to create a so called “new medicine”. One of the steps was to invite Western medicine doctors to learn TCM in clinical practice. This modality has been developed into the integrative medicine of TCM and Western medicine. Although TCM is an experience-based practice and has been playing an important role in health care, evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been recognised and adapted in education, research, and clinical practice in TCM since early 2000. By EBM approach, clinical trials and systematic reviews have been conducted to support clinical guidelines and practice. One of the achievements in TCM development is the regulatory approved herbal products, which have been widely used in both western medicine and primary care. However, some challenges exist such as conflict of standardization and individualization of treatment, holism and reductionism. In WHO strategy, traditional medicine is encouraged to be incorporated into mainstream health care system. The integration of both might be a future direction, and it can occur at the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of disease and illness. There is a need to demonstrate the benefit of the integration in clinical practice.