Two traditional Chinese medicine hospitals yesterday announced a pilot program of TCM-based health advice to prevent diseases rather than treat them. If the move in the TCM hospitals of Shuguang and Yueyang in Shanghai, is a success, the service will be expanded to more district-based hospitals and neighborhood health centers, officials from Shanghai Health Bureau said.

"Compared with Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine has its advantages in disease prevention and health care. The new service, which is called treatment before developing disease, can help people adopt a proper lifestyle, arouse awareness about health protection and avoid developing severe syndromes in the future," said Xu Jianguang, director of Shanghai Health Bureau. The new service will provide health checkups and diagnosis from the TCM aspect and give medical and non-medical treatments as necessary.

"Every patient has a health database and is given an individualized therapy consisting of direction on diet, exercise such shadow boxing and jogging, psychology and sleep as well as medical methods mostly focusing on TCM such as acupuncture, herbal soup and western medication if necessary," said Shen Yuandong, president of Shuguang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

"In addition to provide medical service, the center is also a very good platform to promote traditional Chinese culture, which interests many expatriate patients," Shen said