Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the Philippines has existed as early as the first wave of migrants but has remained confined within a prescribed settlement in the Manila district known as Parian. Over the years, TCM has existed independently as a modality of treatment to improve one’s health, mostly catering only to the Chinese in the country. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the TCM capsule Lian Hua Qing Wen as part of the COVID-19 treatment option, which was highly patronized by the mainstream Philippine society at that time. However, it is unknown whether there was a change in TCM perception and consumption patterns among the Filipino population specifically due to the TCM treatment option during the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with this development, this contribution aims to investigate knowledge, attitude, and consumption of TCM among the Filipino population in the aftermath of COVID-19. A cross-sectional quantitative online survey was conducted among Filipinos across the northern, central, and southern regions of the Philippines. The findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic opened the door for Filipinos to acknowledge the benefits of TCM, and there has been a spillover of interest toward TCM treatment post COVID-19 pandemic.
Jane Yugioksing (Sun,) studied this question.