Doctors at the Beijing Hospital of Tibetan Medicine make “Nine-flavor epidemic prevention powder.” Photo: Courtesy of the Beijing Hospital of Tibetan Medicine

Photo: Courtesy of the Beijing Hospital of Tibetan Medicine

Tibetan medicine, with a history stretching over 2,000 years, is being used to help fight the COVID-19 epidemic.

The Beijing Hospital of Tibetan Medicine has prepared almost 10,000 bags of "Nine-flavor epidemic prevention powder" and is distributing them to those in need, according to a statement sent to the Global Times on Sunday.

The recipe was made under the guidance of Tibetan medical master Cuoru Cilang. Some of the ingredients used to make the medicine were transported to Beijing from Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, said Feng Xin, deputy director of the Department of Medical Affairs at the Beijing Hospital of Tibetan Medicine.

Feng said the recipe is the same one that was used during the 2003 SARS epidemic.

Qinghai government officials in Northwest China reported that 1,000 bags of the medicine were sent to Central China's Hubei Province, the frontline of the COVID-19 epidemic in January.

Tibet's Administration Bureau of Traditional Tibetan Medicine made a prevention and treatment plan for COVID-19 by using Tibetan medicine. The pilot version is available in both Tibetan and Han languages, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine said on its website.

Doctors and experts referred to the theories on preventing and curing the virus in "The Four Medical Classics," an essential book on Tibetan medicine from the 8th century.

Only one COVID-19 case has been reported in Tibet. The infected patient was from Hubei Province and was discharged from a hospital in Lhasa on February 12. 

Monday marks New Year's Day on the Tibetan calendar. Due to the epidemic, people in Tibet remained indoors during the holiday. The Lhasa government launched an online platform so residents could buy what they needed for the holiday celebration, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Tibetan medicine, otherwise known as Sowa Rigpa, was developed along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Over the past decades it has prospered in China with public policy support. 

Built in 1992, the Beijing Hospital of Tibetan Medicine is the only national-level ethnic hospital in China's capital city. The hospital has a medical cardiovascular department, a medical gastroenterological department, a Lum medicinal bathing department, and over 20 Tibetan doctors.