editorial comment/note
Sichuan is known as the "hometown of traditional Chinese medicine" and "repository of traditional Chinese medicine", with profound TCM knowledge and numerous famous doctors. From the general survey of Chinese herbal medicines, Sichuan has more than 7,000 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines, ranking first in the country. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to the inheritance, innovation and development of Chinese medicine, and recently issued the Opinions on Promoting the Inheritance, Innovation and Development of Chinese Medicine, which made deployment requirements for the inheritance, innovation and development of Chinese medicine. On the road of inheritance, innovation and development of traditional Chinese medicine in our province, there are many bright spots and many "obstacles": there are many resources of traditional Chinese medicine, but there are few well-known products. How can the traditional Chinese medicine industry present corresponding energy and output value? How to overcome the problem of urban cold and rural fever in traditional Chinese medicine service? When can Sichuan Chinese medicine practitioners scream again? How to stop losing traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions …
Recently, the reporter went deep into Chinese herbal medicine producing areas, Chinese herbal medicine producing enterprises, Chinese herbal medicine markets and medical institutions, and visited merchants, drug farmers, Chinese medicine managers and Chinese medicine experts, focusing on the key difficulties and actions in the process of transforming our province from a big province of Chinese medicine to a strong province of Chinese medicine, and launched a series of reports on "Asking about the inheritance and innovation of Chinese medicine in Sichuan". Please pay attention.
survey
On November 19th and 20th, Sichuan successively signed strategic cooperation framework agreements with Guizhou and Yunnan for the development of traditional Chinese medicine. As a big province of traditional Chinese medicine resources, the three southwestern provinces have joined forces to attract attention.
Last year, the planting area of Chinese herbal medicines in Sichuan province reached 6.85 million mu (including Miki medicinal materials), with an output value of 27.6 billion yuan, ranking fourth in the country. In contrast, these two data in Yunnan are 7.6 million mu and 37.5 billion yuan respectively, and the gap is obvious.
According to the preliminary data of the ongoing fourth national survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources, there are 7290 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine resources in Sichuan, 312 kinds of commonly used key Chinese medicine varieties and 86 kinds of authentic Chinese medicine, all of which rank among the top in the country. However, an embarrassing phenomenon is that 86 kinds of authentic Sichuan medicinal materials are not well-known in the whole country. What is the reason for it The reporter conducted a survey on this.
happy
Rich in resources, with four national firsts.
The fourth national survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources was launched in 2011 and is expected to be completed by the end of next year. "Take Sichuan as an example, to achieve full coverage of 183 counties (cities, districts), not only the specimens should be collected, but also a database should be established." Xu Tao, director of the Science and Technology Industry Division of Sichuan Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that this is equivalent to finding out the resources of traditional Chinese medicine in our province.
Fang Qingmao, deputy director of the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine Resources and Cultivation of Sichuan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, directly participated in the fourth national survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources.
According to Fang Qingmao’s analysis, the distribution of traditional Chinese medicine resources in Sichuan is mainly concentrated in four areas: the central hilly area of the basin, the northwest plateau of Sichuan, the Panxi area and the mountainous areas around the basin. "In addition to the medicinal materials with the word’ Sichuan’, Sichuan is also rich in aconite, Ophiopogon japonicus, Paeonia lactiflora, turmeric, Poria, Magnolia officinalis and Cordyceps sinensis."
Sichuan province has remarkable advantages in traditional Chinese medicine resources, with four firsts in the country: the reserves of traditional Chinese medicine resources, the number of commonly used Chinese medicine varieties, the number of authentic Chinese medicine varieties and the number of national GAP certification.
"The so-called authentic medicinal materials are the medicinal materials produced in this place with the best quality and the best efficacy." In Xu Tao’s view, Sichuan is known as "the hometown of Chinese medicine" and "the repository of Chinese medicine", not only because there are many kinds of Chinese medicine resources, but more importantly, there are abundant authentic medicinal materials.
The rich resources of traditional Chinese medicine, especially authentic medicinal materials, have also made the saying that "there is no medicine without Sichuan" widely circulated. "Many authentic medicinal materials begin with the word’ Chuan’." Xu Tao listed many authentic herbs in one breath-Chuanxiong, Fritillaria cirrhosa, Rhizoma Coptidis and Radix Cyathulae. Many people believe that Sichuan, as a province rich in traditional Chinese medicine resources, benefits from rich topography. From plain to shallow hills, from deep hills to plateau, the unique geographical and climatic characteristics have given birth to rich resources of traditional Chinese medicine for animals and plants.
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A large variety with diverse varieties and a lack of climate
However, an embarrassing phenomenon is that none of the 86 genuine medicinal materials produced in Sichuan has become a big variety.
"When we say’ big variety’, we mean that it can play its value in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, not just as a medicinal material to meet the purpose of treating diseases and saving lives." Xu Tao said that taking Wenshan Sanqi in Yunnan as an example, in addition to its function of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, it is also used to develop health care products and daily chemicals, such as the well-known Yunnan Baiyao toothpaste. In Fang Qingmao’s view, from a national perspective, in addition to Yunnan Sanqi, there are also Jilin ginseng. "The output value of one variety is tens of billions."
Many insiders said that one common feature of these large varieties is that they are not satisfied with the medicinal value of medicinal materials themselves. Under the premise of scientific research, they fully extend their industrial chain and develop high-output and high-value-added products such as health care products, new resource foods and daily chemical products. "It can be said that for a long time, Sichuan did not have enough awareness in this regard."
Cao Dingru, deputy general manager of Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Pieces Co., Ltd., expressed the hope that the government would concentrate its financial resources to support the development of large varieties with Sichuan characteristics, such as Ophiopogon japonicus, Salvia miltiorrhiza and Chuanxiong.
In fact, research and development of large varieties, Sichuan is not "on hold." "We have organized and carried out research on 16 large varieties including turmeric and made some explorations, but the effect is not obvious." Xu Tao said that with the development of the health industry, the pharmaceutical market will inevitably transition to a big health market, which is also a direction for the development of Chinese medicine.
think
Finding the leading enterprises with pain points and deep processing are the weaknesses.
"For Sichuan and enterprises, it is necessary to further develop large varieties with characteristics." Geng Funeng, chairman of Good Doctor Pharmaceutical Group, believes that the group’s research and development of drugs, toothpaste, mouthwash, facial mask and other products based on the extract of Periplaneta americana has been welcomed by consumers and brought good economic benefits to enterprises.
"The problem is that there are not many leading enterprises, and the effect of demonstration is difficult to play." Xu Tao said that there are 127 Chinese herbal pieces enterprises above designated size and 81 Chinese patent medicine enterprises in the province, in addition to a large number of small and micro enterprises. Generally speaking, the scale is not large, and no Chinese medicine enterprise in the province has an output value of more than 10 billion yuan.
Comparatively speaking, the output value of Yangzijiang Pharmaceutical Group, headquartered in Jiangsu, exceeds the output value of traditional Chinese medicine in Sichuan Province in one year.
Another set of data shows that in 2018, Sichuan exported 40.3823 million US dollars of Chinese herbal medicines and 7.555 million US dollars of Chinese patent medicines. "This shows that we are still mainly selling raw materials, and the deep processing at the back end is not enough." Fang Qingmao hit the nail on the head and pointed out the problem. He roughly estimated that Sichuan itself consumes less than 40% of Chinese herbal medicines, and most of them have moved from the province to the outside of the province and even exported. "It seems that the export amount of Chinese herbal medicines in Sichuan is not low, but Cordyceps accounts for a large proportion."
To create a famous variety, the quality of medicinal materials is also very important.
Many Sichuan enterprises also said in interviews that the utilization rate of Sichuan genuine medicinal materials is not high, and the quality problems of individual varieties are even more distressing, including the "swelling agent incident" of Ophiopogon japonicus and the "hybrid variety" of Radix Cyathulae. "Our company’s view is that the first workshop is in the field." Geng Funeng said that in order to ensure the quality of products, many enterprises have established their own raw material bases for Chinese herbal medicines in authentic production areas.
"We also encourage enterprises to build pharmaceutical parks in authentic producing areas to improve the quality of medicinal materials." Xu Tao said that from the source of medicinal materials, there are still some problems, such as low intensive degree, nonstandard planting and rough processing, etc. If not solved, it will also bring many problems to the production and brand building of traditional Chinese medicine.
"The quality of traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces is closely related to the original medicinal materials. According to the 2020 edition of China Pharmacopoeia, pesticide residues and heavy metals will be comprehensively detected, which is a huge challenge for the cultivation of medicinal materials." Cao Dingru called for strengthening the planning, management and technical guidance of medicinal materials planting to ensure the quality of high-quality medicinal materials, thus laying a solid foundation for building a famous variety.
conversation
Develop large varieties of experts to write "prescriptions"
Guest: Zhao Junning, Dean of Sichuan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Head of the Expert Group of the Fourth National Survey of Traditional Chinese Medicine Resources in Sichuan Province
Reporter: There are very few authentic medicinal materials in Sichuan. Are there any large varieties that can be developed in our province?
Zhao Junning: I think that in order to develop a large variety of medicinal materials, several conditions must be met: first, it is an authentic medicinal material; Secondly, it can be cultivated artificially, and the resources can be guaranteed and used continuously; Once again, it is best to have both medicine and food, which can be used as both medicine and food. On the whole, Sichuan’s authentic medicinal materials, including turmeric, angelica dahurica and codonopsis pilosula, have the potential to develop into large varieties.
Reporter: How to develop these superior Chinese herbal medicine resources into large varieties?
Zhao Junning: As far as I know, many Sichuan enterprises are also making a fuss about large varieties, such as Chuanxiong, turmeric, aconite and so on. For another example, Good Doctor Pharmaceutical develops drugs, toothpaste, facial mask and other products with Periplaneta americana. Many people don’t know that Zanthoxylum bungeanum is also used as medicine and food. As a condiment, it is familiar to many people, but its medicinal value has not been fully explored, and some people are doing research work in this field.
To develop a large variety of Chinese herbal medicines in Sichuan, we must first have a good top-level design, and then carry out systematic basic research and diversified product research and development around the industrial development goals, so as to truly build the industrial chain, and at the same time, we also need the support of Sichuan traditional Chinese medicine culture. In addition, there should be specialized leading enterprises leading the operation, and a collaborative innovation mechanism should be established in Industry-University-Research.
Reporter: What other suggestions do you have for Sichuan to change from a big province with traditional Chinese medicine resources to a strong industrial province?
Zhao Junning: I think that in order to change from a resource-rich province to a strong industrial province, we must first occupy the main battlefield, do a good job in the main force of therapeutic drugs, do a good job in secondary development around the varieties of Chinese herbal medicines, and improve the quality and efficacy. Secondly, the research and development of big health products and big health industries is also a big development trend from the national perspective. Quality assurance is indispensable for the high-quality development of Chinese medicine industry. In the future, applying advanced technology such as 5G and blockchain to ensure the quality of medicinal materials, I think this is a very promising field.