TCM treatment 

China's first HIV/AIDS cases were discovered as early as 1985. Patients sought TCM treatments, as no other therapies were available at that time. In the years since, research on TCM-based HIV/AIDS treatments has developed and much progress has been made.

In 2003, a pilot program to treat HIV/AIDS with TCM was launched by MOH. As of 2010 it has been scaled up from five provinces (Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Hubei and Guangdong) to 19 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, providing thousands of HIV/AIDS sufferers treatment free of charge, according to Wu Gang, Vice Commissioner of China's State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM).

"In China, HIV/AIDS treatments conform to the WHO's requirements. TCM is applied to delay the use of Western medicine for patients with CD4 count above 350. Patients have to continuously use [anti-retrovirals] once started, and are prone to many side effects and drug resistance," Professor Wang Rongbing, head of Beijing Ditan Hospital's Clinical Base for AIDS Treatment, told ChinAfrica.

Wang also said that the CD4 count treatment baseline was raised from 200 to 350 this year, an example of the government's increased investment in addressing HIV/AIDS.

In a TCM-based HIV/AIDS treatment pilot program in Shangcai County, Henan Province, TCM therapies proved effective in 156 out of 163 cases, with patients' health statuses much improved. Wan Xincai, a farmer whose symptoms included fever, diarrhea and weight loss when he was first diagnosed with HIV, found respite after a year-long TCM treatment. His symptoms disappeared, and his weight increased by 11 kg. He was able to return to working his fields.

At the Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania's capital, Chinese experts are working with local doctors to administer HIV/AIDS patients with TCM, integrating Tanzanian traditional herbs into the practice to reduce the treatment cost. So far, 1,054 HIV/AIDS patients have been treated under the program. Three quarters of this number have seen their health status and quality of life improve.

Remaining challenges

So far, only one kind of TCM treatment has been approved by China's State Food and Drug Administration to be used in secondary treatments of HIV/AIDS.

"Research results reveal that TCM proves not as effective as Western medicines in reducing viral load, but it's not proper to judge the effectiveness of TCM simply by using this criteria," said Sun Chuanzheng, a TCM doctor at the TCM-based HIV/AIDS treatment pilot program in Shangcai County.

"Western medicine kills the bacteria or virus by using chemicals, while TCM regulates the body's internal environment, [helping it to] regain its balance," Sun said. "As they are two medical systems with different treatment functions and principles, it's not proper to evaluate the curative effects simply by one criterion," he added.

"The index shows that TCM's anti-viral effect isn't very good," said Professor Wang. "But as TCM is mainly targeted at protecting patients' immune systems, it improves their health status and relieves symptoms such as anemia and diarrhea, though [these] are not included in the evaluation criteria."

Based on her years of experience, Wang said that in clinical treatments there are cases of patients with high viral loads who are still alive, while patients with low viral loads die.

The priority is to relieve symptoms in order to ensure life. "Only when patients still have their lives are declining viral loads and rising CD4 counts meaningful," she said. Though HAART is the most advanced method used for treating HIV/ AIDS, it cannot kill the virus completely. TCM treatments may provide patients a holistic alternative.