Editor's Note: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 12. As of April 3, around 200 countries and regions have confirmed over 900,000 cases, with more than 45,000 deaths, according to the WHO. CGTN's live program "COVID-19 Frontline" invites medical workers and experts from central China's Wuhan and all over the world to share their experiences and take questions from social media users, in the hope of providing more information to those who are battling against the pandemic.

The participation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of COVID-19 patients have been frequently mentioned by the Chinese doctors.

According to the latest data released by the National Health Commission of China, the TCM was applied in treatment provided for over 90 percent of the confirmed cases. Three TCM drugs and prescriptions have also been proved effective and were used in the treatment for most patients.

However, in practice, the TCM doctors are still faced with difficulties in using the drugs and medicines. During the latest livestream program "COVID-19 Frontline" of CGTN, the Chinese doctors have offered their solutions while further explaining the mechanism of the TCM. 

Thursday's program was participated by Chinese TCM doctors from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Hubei, as well as their peers from France, Italy, Hungary and Brazil.

Yu Funian, president of Hungary TCM Association, said that they are eager to learn about the prescriptions and experience from doctors in Wuhan, but there are many restrictions for the application of the TCM drugs, and the lack of a number of herbs has also hindered them from putting the treatment into clinic use.

Liu Qingquan, president of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that it is a common problem for many countries, especially those in Europe and North America. The standards for using the Chinese medicine differ from country to country. So Liu suggested the foreign TCM doctors to list out the herbs available for them, and the Chinese TCM doctors can help to work out a prescription specially for them in accordance to the curative effect of those herbs.

"For instance, the Ephedra was forbidden in most European and North American countries, but it is a core element to the prescriptions used in treating the COVID-19. So we can replace it with Xiang Ru (elsholtzia) and Fu Ping (lemna minor)," said Liu.

He added that many herbs have the same effect, so that they are replaceable while designing the prescriptions used for treatment in different regions.

Laura Ciminelli, a TCM doctor from the Italian Academy of TCM, asked about how they could have access to the Chinese medicine. Fang Bangjiang, emergency department director of Longhua Hospital Shanghai University of TCM, told her that China has already donated 100,000 boxes of Lianhua Qingwen Capsule to Italy, which can be used for both mild and severe patients.

Doctor Liu Qingquan has also explained how to understand the way TCM treatment works.

He said that compared to the anti-virus drugs in western medicine, which are usually single-target, the TCM treatment could be understood as multi-target treatment.

"For instance, the three principles we are using in TCM treatment of COVID-19, the resolve of dampness is aimed at the condition of immune system being suppressed. The detoxification is aimed at the virus, and the clearing of heat is aimed at adjusting the micro-ecology in the patients' gastrointestinal system. We are using one prescription for treating all the pathogenicity," said Liu.

This was the fourth episode centered around TCM treatment in CGTN's "COVID-19 Frontline".

Live: How TCM helps frontline doctors fight COVID-19