China Pushing Chinese Remedies to Treat Covid-19

Shelves in pharmacies in China are cleared of flu medication

With an estimated 36 million people infected with Covid-19 in China right now, residents there are desperate to find medication to treat flu symptoms and have even enlisted friends and family abroad to send them paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Not only is there a massive shortage of medicine in China, but also the government is handing out Chinese medicine instead -- Lianhua Qingwen, which some say has zero benefit in fighting the virus -- and people don't want it.

The government is stepping up production of Lianhua Qingwen and distributing tens of thousands of boxes across the country. Sound familiar? Last spring the Hong Kong government gave out packages wrapped in small garbage bags filled with N95 masks, a pack of rapid antigen tests, and two boxes of the Chinese medicine.

The government is pushing Lianhua Qingwen

A friend collected the two Chinese medicine boxes from me to distribute to people in her building complex who swore by taking it.

But in China, some residents like those in Yunnan province are complaining they are given the Chinese medicine and can't find modern ones, like paracetamol to help alleviate symptoms.

"Why give us expensive Lianhua Qingwen? What we need is drugs that can lower the temperature, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol," said one Weibo user.

"Why can Lianhua Qingwen be transported and distributed freely, while the usual fever drugs are not available or distributed?" asked another.

According to manufacturer Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical, Lianhua Qingwen is based on a formula dating back to the Han dynasty (202BC-220AD). The modern treatment was developed in 2003 for severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS.

Liu Qingquan, president of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Medicine, said earlier this month that the Chinese medicine was able to treat all kinds of diseases, including the Omicron variant.

However, medical authorities begged to differ.

Residents are demanding modern medicine

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has warned against using Lianhua Qingwen, saying it has not been approved or authorised. In Australia it has been banned outright because it contains ephedra, which can be used to make methamphetamine.

Last year Singapore's Health Sciences Authority warned that although the Chinese medicine could treat cold and flu symptoms, it was not approved for Covid-19 and threatened to punish sellers who made false claims about its benefits.

So even though Beijing is trying to look like a benevolent dictator, distributing lots of medicine to people, it's not what they want or need.

Some medical experts tracking Covid-19 from outside China are looking on with horror at how the country has just opened the  floodgates and allowed Covid-19 to spread. They worry that because not enough people are vaccinated or exposed to the virus that their immune systems will not be able to cope, let alone their healthcare systems.

It's a recipe for disaster that is manmade. 

And not a peep about blaming someone at the top...