Health communication conference highlights TCM role in chronic disease fight

(ECNS) -- The 9th "Medicine, Humanity and Media" International Health Communication Conference and Doctoral Forum was held at Peking University on Saturday and Sunday.

The forum, themed "International Experience and Local Pathways in Building Health Communication Knowledge Systems," featured experts discussing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in global chronic disease prevention and treatment.

Ding Yuzhou, a specialist in spleen and stomach diseases and a foreign academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, proposed a "technology empowerment plus precision communication" approach for TCM's global expansion.

He said TCM's internationalization should move beyond cultural symbols and be rooted in clinical efficacy. Using artificial intelligence and big data, diagnostic logic could be transformed into quantifiable, replicable digital treatment protocols, allowing the global community to recognize TCM's scientific value.

Ding's three-dimensional treatment strategy — "clearing turbidity and removing toxins, strengthening the spleen and harmonizing the stomach, and resolving stasis and unblocking collaterals" — has provided an Eastern solution for stomach cancer prevention and control in Tajikistan and other regions.

"Localizing TCM promotion requires balancing theoretical standardization with cultural adaptability," Ding said.

His team, drawing on the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, has achieved clinical reversal of gastric mucosal structure and function in multiple patients through precise syndrome differentiation and personalized intervention, providing strong evidence for TCM's role in global chronic disease prevention and treatment.

The conference was hosted by Peking University's School of Journalism and Communication. The organizers said the concept of "promoting through technology and gaining recognition through efficacy" aligns with the development direction of health communication in the new era. They expressed hope to deepen cooperation, promote the digital transformation and multilingual dissemination of TCM diagnostic and treatment experience, and help China's medical voice reach the world.

(By Tang Yuxian)