The provincial government of Cebu has entered into a partnership with a Chinese school of traditional medicine to train local doctors on alternative healing.

A health summit is likewise in the works to give government and private physicians an opportunity to learn traditional Chinese medicine through a partnership with the Fuzhou City-based Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Experts from Fujian will share their expertise on traditional forms of healing such as the use of herbal medicines, acupuncture and naturopathy.

“We are putting together a schedule for the Fujian University professors that will be coming over to share their knowledge,” Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said in a statement on Tuesday.

Garcia said she intends to incorporate traditional medicine into the province’s “Sugbusog” livelihood program that entices families to go into farming.

Traditional medicine and alternative healthcare systems will also be included in the programs for the 16 Cebu capitol-run hospitals as well as in the training for barangay health workers.

She also urged doctors at the region’s pilot hospital, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, to train on Chinese medicine.

The governor said she became interested in traditional medicine when she visited Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine during a four-day trade mission last year. (PNA)