Guess who has rung the alarm? China has wildlife advocates shouting heal without harm.
According to National Geographic the Chinese Government is recommending the use of “Tan Re Qing, an injection containing bear bile [and goat horn powder], to treat severe and critical COVID-19 cases.” China’s National Health Commission recommended this COVID-19 treatment on a list published on March 4th. This sounded alarms for wildlife advocates who argue that this completely contradicts China’s recent ban of the live trade in animals for food.
The use of bear bile from wild bears is banned in China as well as imported bile from other countries. However, bear bile from captive animals is legal.
Ironically, Aron White, wildlife campaigner for the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) learned of the Chinese government’s recommendations to treat COVID-19 via social media posts from illegal traders. White went on to say, “We were witnessing how this government recommendation was being coopted by the traffickers to advertise their illegal products as a treatment.”
Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners typically use Tan Re Qing to treat bronchitis and upper respiratory infections. However, this recommendation was made though there is no evidence to support that bear bile is an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus says Clifford Steer, a professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
It is these contradictions that has sounded alarms of wildlife activists across the globe. Wildlife advocates are concerned that this recommendation will trigger an increase in the trade of illegal wildlife products, thus justifying animal abuse.
Animals Asia reports that all methods for extracting bile are invasive and “cause severe suffering, pain, and infection. Specifically, bile is typically extracted by inserting a catheter, syringe, or pipe into the gallbladder.
Meanwhile, another traditional medicine that was included on the National Health Commission’s approved list of COVID-19 treatments that is opposed by wildlife advocates is a pill called Angong Niuhuang Wan. Angong Niuhuang Wan traditionally contains rhino horn and is used to treat fever and various diseases.
Wildlife advocates charge that the reason why China has them shouting ‘heal without harm’ is because by approving these treatments, the Chinese Government is sending mixed messages. Others sing the tune of Clifford Steer, saying that it mis-informs the public as there is not currently a cure for COVID-19.
