The Philippine Association for Chinese Studies (PACS) and the Confucius Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University (CI at AdMU) collaborated for an online Traditional Chinese Medicine Forum on “Healthy Lifestyle in the COVID Pandemic Crisis” last August 1, with over 200 Zoom participants and 800 Facebook live viewers.
Dr. Rommel Banlaoi, President, PACS, commenced the forum with expressing its initiative in sharing ways to adapt to the inevitable “new normal” brought by the new coronavirus pandemic through preventing sickness by promoting a healthy lifestyle.
The first speaker, Dr. Li Min, professor, doctoral supervisor of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, and Deputy Dean of the College of Acupuncture and Rehabilitation in Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, stressed on the importance of the TCM view and strategy in facing COVID-19 in her talk on “TCM Healthy Lifestyle in COVID Crisis.” According to Dr. Li, TCM is more preventive than curative. In her speech, she introduced several climatic factors contributing to the effect of viruses which may produce diseases to the human body. She states that TCM emphasizes that people’s healthy qi and an integration of body and mind, is protective against viruses. Hence, maintaining a healthy qi through regulating psychological state, having a balanced diet, promoting proper living habits and engaging in exercise help our body respond positively to these climatic factors and prevent viruses from growing inside the body.
Dr. Alfonso Lagaya, Physician, Acupuncturist, former Director General of the Department of Health Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (DOH – PITAHC), introduced his “Public Health Advocacy in Preventing COVID-19 Infection in the Hot Philippine Climate.” Dr. Lagaya suggested various strategies in combating COVID-19 for healthcare workers and Filipinos in connection to Philippines’ hot climate. He states, besides wearing masks and protective equipment, treating patients in prone position at 60% – 80% of the treatment time is advisable for medical practitioners to minimize exposure to the virus. Moreover, he provided a comparison of the traditional and urban Philippine house architectural design, stressing that urban living is more prone to the virus due to the more enclosed spaces in condominiums and more frequent usage of air-conditioning. As TCM advocates a healthy lifestyle in preventing virus infection, Dr. Lagaya introduced Acupoint Self-Diagnosis and Lifestyle Check. He demonstrated using acupuncture points in determining unhealthy lifestyle and its causes and provided recommended responses to unhealthy diagnoses such as a more balanced diet with a 90:10 vegetarian to animal-based diet ratio, more frequent exercise and balanced emotions to reduce mental stress and increase physical “stress” exercise. He also emphasized the benefits of wearing scarf in cold and hot climate in our hydration.
The forum was concluded by Dr. Ellen Palanca, Director of CI at AdMU. Dr. Palanca thanked all the speakers, PACS board, Dr. Liang Guanghan, Chinese Director of CI at AdMU, Dr. Tan Cho Chiong of PACS and all the participants. As the current pandemic situation raised awareness on alternative medicine, Dr. Palanca states that through people-to-people exchanges, knowledge of TCM and other useful aspects of Chinese culture is being transferred to people who are willing to learn them. “We hope that through more people-to-people exchanges, we can see more of such transfers of knowledge, not just from China to the Philippines but also from the Philippines to China,” she stated. Dr. Palanca also invites everyone in the subsequent events of the CI at AdMU.
Dr. Rommel Banlaoi delivering his opening remarks
Dr. Li Min talking on TCM Healthy Lifestyle in COVID Crisis
Dr. Alfonso Lagaya speaking on Public Health Advocacy in Preventing COVID-19 Infection in the Hot Philippine Climate
Dr. Ellen Palanca delivering her closing remarks