Inside Look on Pangolin Use in Traditional Chinese Medicine
Source：mongabay
From：Taiwan Trade Center Chicago
Update Time：2020/07/18
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been research showing that the use of Pangolins, the scaly mammal, in traditional Chinese medicine has been related to the outbreak and the transferring of COVID-19 to humans. Sine this discovery, the Chinese government stated in early June that it had stopped using, and banned, pangolin scales in the practice of traditional Chinese medicine. In addition, there were new protections placed on pangolins in China. Globally, many people saw this as a good move in the process of eventually stopping pangolin trafficking.
Despite these positive reports, the Environmental Investigation Agency investigated the matter, specifically at China’s reference book for traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. The 2020 book had eliminated pangolin scales as a raw ingredient overall, but the scales were still found as an ingredient in at least 8 medicines throughout the book.
Responding to this, the team said they were not surprised as they had been warned earlier that China’s claims were not completely accurate. The team referenced previous instances where leopard bone and bear bile were promised to be removed from medical use and then remained as ingredients in various medicines.
Even with the new protections, the EIA said that the demand for pangolin scales will stay constant, and loopholes will allow practitioners to still use them. This is directly influenced by the strong advocacy for traditional Chinese medicine by the Chinese government. The team explained that the laws are shaky and ambiguous. Technically there are protections for pangolins and their scales aren’t medically encouraged, but they still remain in the system and necessary for medicines. Some hospitals even have stockpiles of scales that they are still legally allowed to use. The issue then becomes the potential laundering temptation for these scales and the lack of regulations concerning hospitals that have them.
In the end, even if the Chinese government passed a few pieces of legislation that protect pangolins, the underlying issue is that there is significantly more legislation that allows abuse and use of pangolins to occur. In fact, pangolins are one of the most desired animals for illegal trading across the world. The EIA are continuing to monitor the situation.
Source：https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/did-china-really-ban-the-pangolin-trade-not-quite-investigators-say/