STORY: 1st Lancang-Mekong forum on traditional medicine held in Cambodia
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 7, 2023
DATELINE: Dec. 8, 2023
LENGTH: 00:05:18
LOCATION: Phnom Penh
CATEGORY: MEDICINE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the forum
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Khmer): TAN SOKUN, Director of the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): KOEURNG RAKSMIY, Doctor at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): KOEURNG RAKSMIY, Doctor at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): FANG ZHIGANG, Vice president of the Thai Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association


STORYLINE:

The first Lancang-Mekong forum on traditional medicine was held in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia on Thursday.

Under the theme "Traditional medicine creates a healthy Lancang-Mekong future," the forum, was held in an online-offline hybrid format, attracting more than 100 medical practitioners from Lancang-Mekong countries.

Wang Xiaopin, secretary of the Party Committee of the Guang'anmen Hospital under the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, delivered a speech to the forum via a video link from Beijing.

She said the Lancang-Mekong region has rich and diverse traditional medicine resources and a long history of traditional medicine experience.

Noting that traditional medicine plays an irreplaceable and important role in improving people's well-being, Wang said that since ancient times, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been an important part of exchanges and cooperation among countries along the ancient Silk Road.

Tan Sokun, director of the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital, said the forum enabled the participants to gain insights into TCM, which is efficacious in treating many diseases.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Khmer): TAN SOKUN, Director of the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital
"A lot of benefits are expected from this forum. Firstly, it creates close contact among participating institutions and secondly, we can gain insights into treatment using TCM."

Sokun also thanked China for having dispatched its TCM teams to provide free medical checkups and treatment to patients in Cambodia since March 2022.

Koeurng Raksmiy, a doctor at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital, said the forum was crucial for medical practitioners to better understand diagnosis and treatment techniques using TCM.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): KOEURNG RAKSMIY, Doctor at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital
"To me, this forum is very important for our staff, our Cambodian doctors because the forum could introduce us and help us to understand more about traditional Chinese medicine, which can help us to do the evaluation and diagnosis for the patients more clearly."

The doctor also thanked China for its support from training to the medical aid team.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): KOEURNG RAKSMIY, Doctor at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital
"China plays a very important role in helping train the medical staff to understand more about traditional medicine. All the Mekong-Lancang countries get a lot of benefits from the China medical aid teams. I'm really thankful to the Chinese government for having supplied the Chinese medical team to our country, which has helped a lot of the patients, including Cambodians, Chinese, and other foreigners."

Fang Zhigang, vice president of the Thai Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association, said the forum can promote the communication of TCM treatment experiences in the region.

SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): FANG ZHIGANG, Vice president of the Thai Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association
"This forum can help Thailand to communicate and learn traditional Chinese medicine better, share experiences from various countries, and also share our valuable traditional Chinese medicine experiences with different regions and nations, contributing to the health services for the Thailand people."

The one-day forum was jointly organized by the China medical aid team of traditional Chinese medicine for Cambodia, the China-Cambodia Traditional Chinese Medicine Center, the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies, the Guang'anmen Hospital under the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Phnom Penh.
(XHTV)