A NATIONALLY well-known traditional Chinese medical team led by Chao Enxiang from the Beijing-based China-Japan Friendship Hospital officially settled in Shenzhen on Saturday.

The medical team will treat lung diseases in the hospitals in the city, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

Under the cooperative deals signed between the city government and the medical team, Chao and his fellow doctors will build a database that manages lung diseases in the city and collaboratively explore treatment of lung diseases with both Western and Chinese treatment.

Shenzhen is becoming increasingly populated and more residents are suffering from respiratory diseases due to the changing environment.

A doctor surnamed Chen from the Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital’s lung disease department said that the number of patients they received over past years had continued to soar, from over 30,000 people in 2013 to nearly 60,000 people last year.

Currently, the department receives 140 to 150 patients on a daily basis, mainly to see doctors for chronic cough, bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said Chen.

Dr. Chao has been recognized as one of the best TCM doctors in the country for his devotion to treating lung diseases for over 60 years. He contributed greatly during several major outbreaks of respiratory diseases like SARS in 2002.

Chen said that the introduction of Dr. Chao and his team to Shenzhen could greatly help medical institutions in the city enhance their treatment of lung diseases.

The medical team will incorporate TCM skills with Western medical measures to treat lung cancer, the malignant tumor that has the highest death rate in China. Official data shows nearly 24,000 residents were diagnosed with lung cancer in Shenzhen in 2017 alone. (Zhang Qian)