It has also set up a special SARS unit within one of its on-campus clinics to offer medical consultation to the public.

Liu Liang, dean of Chinese medicine at the university, told thepublic through a local radio interview Thursday that the university is making full use of the ancient Chinese herbal wisdomto help the public prevent the disease and offer post-recovery health maintenance treatment.

"Ideally, we hope to help the public prevent SARS, help the patients treat SARS and help the convalescents maintain health in post-recovery treatment," Liu said.

However, under the current system of the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong, only western medicine is in the position to treat the SARS-hit patients at various public hospitals. But Leung said the university is fighting for the use of Chinese medicine to combat the new disease.

Clinical observations have shown that SARS patients who have recovered are considerably physically weakened, and Chinese medicine is in a better position to strengthen the body and help convalescents regain energy quickly so that they can resume work, he said.

The special unit is now in operation on the first floor of the university's Chinese Medicine Building in Kowloon Tong in Kowloon area.

When asked how Chinese medicine can become mainstream treatmentat public hospitals, he said that due to the lack of a coordination mechanism for the mixed use of Chinese and western medicine at hospitals, Chinese medicine has so far not been incorporated into the mainstream treatment.

"I feel that since the HKSAR government has set the direction for the development of traditional Chinese medicine and I have seen that a lot of documents that have already outlined various models for promoting cooperation of Chinese and western medicine here, it may be just the matter of time before this will happen.

"Studying how this cooperation can be done will be essential for both the development of Chinese medicine and the public hospital system. From clinical experience as accumulated on the Chinese mainland, both Chinese and western medicine can cooperate well," Liu said.

Liu said that (852) 3411-2905 or (852) 3411-2998 is the number to call, should the public need to seek quick advice from the School of Medicine of the university here over the telephone.

A healthcare reform, initiated by Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa in his 1997 and 1998 policy addresses, aims to better protect public health by establishing a statutory frameworkwhich will ultimately accord legal recognition of the medicine andregulate the practice of it. Enditem

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2003)