Chinese medical team sows the seeds of traditional Chinese medicine in Cambodia

China News Service, Phnom Penh, November 7. Title: Chinese medical team sows seeds of traditional Chinese medicine in Cambodia

Author Zhang Anqi Zhang Yanlin Yang Qiang

At the Cosma China-Cambodia Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Lensaran, a patient with oculomotor nerve palsy that had not been cured for a long time, entered the traditional Chinese medicine clinic with the idea of ​​"a last try". After three weeks of acupuncture combined with traditional Chinese medicine treatment, his symptoms were significantly relieved. "From not understanding Chinese medicine to having Chinese medicine cure my disease, this is really a miraculous process," said Lensalan.

"Efficacy is the best language for the overseas spread of traditional Chinese medicine." Chen Honglin, captain of the fifth batch of Chinese traditional medicine medical team aiding Cambodia, told the reporter of China News Network on November 7 this story. He went to Oman in 2018, and to Cambodia in 2024 and 2026. This Chinese doctor who has performed foreign medical aid missions three times has witnessed the process of many local patients from first getting acquainted with traditional Chinese medicine to gradually building trust.

In 2024, when Chen Honglin went to Cambodia for the first time, he found that although traditional Chinese medicine has many audiences in Phnom Penh, there is still a "certain distance" for grassroots people in other areas to receive treatment. In July this year, Chen Honglin went to Cambodia again. During this term of office, his biggest wish is to work hard to realize free clinic tours across Cambodia and deliver health and well-being to the doorsteps of local people.

Two years ago, the Chinese medical team launched the "Transferring Traditional Chinese Medicine Overseas to Grassroots" free clinic tours, which have covered many provinces such as Kampong Chhnang, Pursat, and Banteay Meanchey. Chen Honglin clearly feels that the recognition of traditional Chinese medicine at the grassroots level in Cambodia is constantly increasing. “In August this year, we went to a free clinic in Banteay Meanchey Province, and the number of appointments increased from two to three hundred when I first aided Cambodia, to more than 600.”

On October 30, Chen Honglin led a team to Tebenkhmun Province for the first time to provide free traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment services. The 79-year-old patient, Mort Hoon, underwent surgery for trauma to his right calf more than ten years ago and has suffered from chronic pain ever since. Chinese doctors performed acupuncture treatment on the same day and gave him topical plasters. Chen Honglin said: "Although the silver needle is thin, what it penetrates is the curative effect, and what connects it is the human heart."

The Cambodian people's trust in traditional Chinese medicine continues to accumulate and deepen through repeated contacts. Chen Honglin remembers that when he went to a free clinic in another province, a 63-year-old stroke patient, accompanied by his family members, rushed to the scene at 6 a.m. to wait. While Chen Honglin was treating her with acupuncture, her brother watched intently and wrote down the acupuncture points and techniques in a notebook so that he could relieve his sister's pain later.

In order to spread traditional Chinese medicine further and further overseas and leave sustainable medical capabilities to the local area, the medical team not only pays attention to on-site teaching in daily outpatient clinics and free clinics, but also insists on organizing trainings for Cambodian medical staff from time to time, sowing the seeds of traditional Chinese medicine in this land.

The growth path of local medical care is advancing in layers from "assistance, operation, and evaluation". Angkor, a Cambodian translator at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic of Kosma China-Cambodia Friendship Hospital, originally studied Western medicine. While working with the Chinese medical team, he gradually mastered acupuncture and is now able to perform acupuncture on patients under the guidance of the medical team. "The traditional Chinese medicine clinic is a testimony of the friendship between Cambodia and China. I have benefited from it and gained more development opportunities." He said.

Chin La, Cambodian Minister of Health, once called the Chinese medical team “China’s health gift to the Cambodian people.” At grassroots community free clinics, many people came into contact with traditional Chinese medicine for the first time. After benefiting from the diagnostic and therapeutic effects of traditional Chinese medicine, they often put their hands together to express their gratitude. Chen Honglin said that face-to-face diagnosis and treatment and real therapeutic effects can build trust better than any publicity.