The Institute of Chinese Medicine (ICM) received a donation of HK$600,000 from the Hong Kong Society of Accountants (HKSA) to continue its research on the anti-viral TCM preparation for enhancement of immunity against SARS and other viral infections. A cheque presentation ceremony was held on 3 September 2003 at the Centre for Clinical Trials on Chinese Medicine (CCTCM). Mr. David Tak-kei Sun, President of HKSA and Mr. Kennedy Liu, Chairman of the HKSA Community Services Committee, joined Prof. Jack C.Y. Cheng, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and Prof. P.C. Leung, Chairman of the ICM Management Committee, to officiate the ceremony. ICM has put up a plaque in the acupunctural research room at the CCTCM to acknowledge HKSA's generous support.

　　This donation is an addition to the contribution of $300,000 jointly made by HKSA and ACCA (HK) in April this year. The previous donation was aimed at supporting ICM's production of 42,000 sachets of anti-viral TCM preparation for free distribution to the frontline health care workers of the Hospital Authority (HA). ICM has also launched an observational study on the volunteers taking the preparation to evaluate its efficacy.

　　Prof. Leung said, "3,160 medical staff have consumed the preparation and none of them infected the SARS. The users commonly felt a marked improvement in their mental and physical state. There was also a noticeable amelioration in the unhealthy symptoms they had such as headache, muscular pain, high body temperature, etc. Their sleeping and bowel movement habits were also improved." Also, the CCTCM did blood tests for the volunteers. Prof. Christopher Lam, Deputy Director of CCTCM, pointed out that the blood test results confirmed that the immunity index of the users has increased evidently. In view of the encouraging results, it was made one of the strategic researches in ICM.

　　In response to the HA's call for actions against SARS, ICM, with limited resources, formulated and produced the anti-viral TCM preparation in no time and distributed the sachets free to the frontline medical staff. ICM thanked all those who have donated and contributed to the project and hoped that further research for enhancement of the formulation will benefit the community at large.

From left to right:
Prof. P.C. Leung, Chairman of the ICM Management Committee
Prof. Jack C.Y. Cheng, Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Mr. David Tak-kei Sun, President of HKSA
Mr. Kennedy Liu, Chairman of the HKSA Community Services Committee