Vivien Chou, as executive director of Integrated Chinese Medicine Holdings (ICM), is helping to fulfil her father's wish to contribute to a cure for cancer, while also helping to establish Hong Kong as a Chinese medicine centre.
The daughter of Wen Hsien - Hong Kong textile and property veteran and chairman of Winsor Properties - Chou established privately held ICM just 18 months ago, after working within the Winsor Group.
Chou's father, now 80, became involved in developing Chinese medicine products, establishing Winsor Health Products, after seeing firsthand the benefits traditional Chinese medicine had on a friend's daughter who was suffering from leukemia, who benefited greatly from a mushroom-based product.
"The Chinese survived for centuries without western medicine, so my father said there must be something to it [Chinese medicine] and wanted to offer it to the community," Chou says.
It seems the Hong Kong community is increasingly willing to embrace traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), with the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong (CMCHK) reporting that 22% of medical consultancies in Hong Kong are run by TCM practitioners.
The Hong Kong Government has also recently put its support behind the TCM industry, establishing the Chinese Medicine Council to oversee the regulation of the industry and creating the Institute for Chinese Medicine (ICM) in July last year. Chairman of the Council Daniel Tse says, "The ICM will promote the Chinese medicine industry and can help strengthen Hong Kong's capability in new product development by financing and assisting research development in certain areas in which Chinese medicine is known to be effective. Areas such as anti-cancer, anti-ageing, anti-osteoporosis, pain relief, and strengthening of the immune system are good candidates for consideration. New technology should also be employed for research and development to ensure these products are safe, effective, quality-controllable, user-friendly and high value-added. They should also meet international requirements for medical products so that they can enter the international market as quickly as possible," Dr Tse says.
The Council will also encourage local TCM businesses to join forces with their counterparts in mainland China. "China can offer the herbal resources, manpower and plant facilities, while Hong Kong has the quality consciousness and managerial experience." Dr Tse says TCM brand names in Hong Kong are also encouraged to modernise so their products can be upgraded and their market competitiveness strengthened.
ICM's Chou agrees, "My father also recognised the inconvenience of having to go back to the TCM doctor on a daily basis, so he developed capsules and powders, which are much more convenient and don't stink up your kitchen when you have to decoct the raw herbs yourself. His paramount concern, however, is safe products, with proven efficacy."
Chou says despite admiring her father's passion for TCM, she was hesitant at first to become involved in the industry, admitting that until she met the professors at the Chinese University, who were collaborating with the company on research, she didn't realise the health potential of the traditional treatments.
Once converted, Chou wanted to give the international community an insight into the richness of the Chinese culture and her heritage. "ICM was created to be the marketing arm of Winsor Health Products and Integrated Chinese Herbal Nutraceuticals, so a portion of the profits could be ploughed back into research."
Chou believes Chinese and western medicine can be integrated. In an effort to break into international markets Chou is determined that ICM products gain nutraceutical status with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US.
One of ICM's potentially lucrative products is a mushroom-based health supplement, Winsor Mushroom Essence or (Yun-Zhi). The company recently launched an export version, called I'm Yunity, which is lauded for its ability to enhance the immune system. "Our mushroom extract now has drug status in China. ICM has already trialled three of its products (I'm Yunity, Equidguard, Flo-right) in laboratory and animal testing. Next comes human clinical trials. However, this takes time. Generally a minimum of eight years passes from the day of discovery of a drug to the marketing of the product.
"TCM has an additional difficulty," says Chou. "because western drugs are usually tested in terms of their chemical components, which are man-made and can therefore be replicated to the same standard. In TCM, the equivalent of the man-made chemical compound is the active ingredient(s), which is an extract from raw herbs. The quality therefore differs depending on the raw herbs." The herbs come from China and the supplements are manufactured in Hong Kong.
Despite these obstacles, ICM is in discussion with a US hospital and plans to begin clinical trials on one of its products - which, because of confidentiality arrangements at press time, Chou refused to name - in California soon.
Chou says that in Hong Kong, voluntary patients try the preparations and treatment and provide feedback as to their effectiveness. ICM has three clinics in Hong Kong and two in Singapore. These were set up in collaboration with the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "The clinics have a dual function - as research and service facilities," Chou says. Chou, who refused to disclose ICM's current financial status, predicts the company will be turning a profit within two years.
ICM, which employs 13 people, disseminates information about TCM in English and Chinese, mainly via the internet and workshops. The main two shareholders in ICM are the Hong Kong Health Care Centre and the Hong Kong Association for Health Care.
Integrated Chinese Medicine Holdings
Tel: (852) 2739-1515; fax: (852) 2721-2451
www.icm.com.hk
Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule in 1997 saw the government embrace traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa promising to promote the city as an international TCM hub.
The Director of Health, Dr Margaret Chan, says significant steps have been taken to achieve this status including regulatory and licensing measures. Dr Chan is a member of the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong (CMCHK), which was established in 1999 to oversee the regulation TCM practitioners.
Regulatory measures include a system of examination, registration and discipline. "To ensure a professional standard is maintained, only registered practitioners will be able to practice in Hong Kong in the long run," says Dr Chan.
The Chinese Medicine Ordinance, which was also enacted in 1999, called for all TCM practitioners to register by the end of 2000. A total of 8,000 applications were received. Those applicants deemed not to have met the Chinese Medicine Council's criteria will be required to undergo a registration assessment or licensing examination.
Practitioners entering the industry now are required to undertake a degree course in Chinese medicine. The first batch of registered Chinese medicine practitioners will graduate early this year.
"In order to maintain professional conduct, Chinese medicine practitioners need to comply with the code of practice or face disciplinary action," Dr Chan says. "In order to encourage practitioners to keep up with advances in Chinese medicine they are required by law to comply with the requirements relating to continuing medical education."
She says the Hong Kong Government's long-term objective is to promote the integration of Chinese and western medicine. "There are plans to introduce Chinese medicine practice in selected hospitals with pilot schemes expected to start this year and to provide out-patient services in 18 public clinics by 2005 - helping to develop a framework of collaboration between Chinese and Western medicine."
Dr Chan expects regulatory measures for traders and manufacturers of Chinese medicines to be implemented in phases from 2002.
The chairman of the Chinese Medicine Council (www.cmchk.org.hk) Dr Daniel CW Tse says much more must be done to reach Tung Chee-hwa's goal of establishing Hong Kong as an international TCM centre.
"Chinese Medicine journals should be published in English and authoritative writings in Chinese should be translated into English in to internationalise Chinese medicine scholarship," he says. But Dr Tse says Hong Kong has the edge over other Asian cities because it is bilingual and it has an "emphasis on quality".
"If Hong Kong can continue its efforts, quicken its pace and try harder, there are still good prospects for success."
The CMCHK also recommends a standard of commonly used Chinese herbs be established and published.
"Hong Kong can become an international testing and accreditation centre for the quality of Chinese herbal products," Dr Tse says.