Research & Insight

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Evan.sun@worldanimalprotection.org.cn

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Research & Insight

Reports

Substitutes for wildlife-origin materials as described in China’s “TCM” research literature

Artificial Bear Bile: A Novel Approach to Balancing Medical Requirements and Animal Welfare

Uncovering a secret slaughter – Suriname’s jaguar trade exposed

Suffering at scale – pangolin poaching for the traditional medicine trade

Trading cruelty – how captive big cat farming fuels the traditional Asian medicine industry

Global biodiversity conservation requires traditional Chinese medicine trade to be sustainable and well regulated

Building the future of wildlife-friendly medicine

Beyond the Pharmacopoeia: To what extent is trade for “TCM” limited to official TCM taxa?

Research & Insight

Insights

Haoyuan Li: Phasing out wildlife from medicine is the way forward

Lixing Lao: Wildlife in medicine, healing or harming?

Zhijun Fang: How to realize the win-win situation between wildlife conservation and the inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine?

Yuxiao Wang: Taking Corporate Responsibility for Animal Protection

Topics & Policies

Policy Update

National Medical Products Administration and National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine jointly issued the Announcement on Matters Concerning the Support for the Development of Substitutes for Rare and Endangered Chinese Medicinal Materials,

In early July 2023, NMPA established an expert working group to provide technical support and advice on policies and technical requirements for substitutes of endangered species used in TCM.

In Feb. 2023, NMPA prioritized reviewing and approving artificial substitutions for endangered Chinese herbal medicines in the Special Provisions for Registration and Management of Traditional Chinese Medicines.

As of 2021, eight artificial substitutes have been approved in China. These substitutes have helped to address the issue of endangered animal medicines, such as oxalis and musk.

Chinese government excludes medicines containing endangered animals and plants from the Basic Medical Insurance List.

The level of protection for pangolins was raised and their scales were removed from the pharmacopeia of the People’s Republic of China.

The Chinese Government has decided to ban the use for food of protected land animals that are important for the environment, science, and society. This ban also applies to land animals that have been bred or raised artificially.

The CCPC/State Council's Opinions on promoting Traditional Chinese Medicine emphasize protecting rare and endangered medicinal plants and animals. It also supports research and development on synthetic alternatives to endangered wildlife.

The National Health Insurance Bureau has removed traditional Chinese medicine tablets with wildlife ingredients like pangolin, tortoiseshell turtle, antelope horn, and deer antler from being covered by the health insurance fund's payments.

Topics & Policies

News

A health care service company signed pledge to support Wildlife-friendly Medicine

The race to save endangered TCM ingredients

How to balance the demand and sustainability of wildlife-derived traditional medicine? A wildlife-friendly medicine network launches in China

The first digital health service company signs'Wildlife-friendly medicine' pledge

A major policy for the substitution of endangered animal medicinal materials has been introduced

Important progress has been made in the research field of artificial bear bile

China National Drug Administration establish an expert working group to promote synthetic alternatives to wildlife used in TCM

Topics & Policies

Events

Wildlife-friendly Medicine Initiative

"Building the Future of Wildlife-Friendly Medicine Together" Webinar

Herbal Substitute Forum

TCM Alternatives to
Wild Animal Preparations (TAWAP)

The database contains plant or mineral-based preparations described in widely recognized materia medica or in the current pharmacopeia of the People’s Republic of China. The substitutes provided here are based on an assessment of similarities in function and the characteristics of the medicinal substances of wild animal-based remedies.

Find Herbal Alternatives