Rotary International Donates AHCHOO Spray Herbal Medicine to Tri-Service General Hospital, Supporting Frontline Pandemic Heroes

As Taiwan continues to face a severe COVID-19 outbreak in June, the nation’s Level 3 alert remains extended. Frontline medical staff in major medical centers and hospital emergency departments are in daily close contact with large numbers of patients, facing higher risks of infection and greater psychological stress than the general public.

In response, Rotary International District 3521 and the Taipei Food Fairy Rotary Club, guided by Rotary’s mission to provide humanitarian service and promote goodwill and peace worldwide, launched the “Traditional Chinese Medicine Frontline Support Initiative.” They donated Taiwan’s herbal medicine AHCHOO Spray to frontline medical personnel at the emergency and intensive care units of the Tri-Service General Hospital to help protect them.

Ms. Geng Shuxian, Deputy Director of Academic Affairs at Junwei Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd., explained that AHCHOO Spray is composed of 14 traditional Chinese herbs, including Isatis root (Banlangen), Scutellaria (Huangqin), and Licorice (Gancao). Using patented pharmaceutical technology, this classic Chinese herbal formula has been actively involved in international disaster relief and disease prevention efforts since 2002. Currently, AHCHOO Spray is used in over a thousand medical centers, hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies across Taiwan. The company is also collaborating with Chinese medicine institutions to study its potential benefits for managing side effects of cancer chemotherapy.

Mr. Xu Wuqing, President of the China Medical Journal, noted that epidemics—referred to today as viral infectious diseases—have never disappeared since the beginning of human history. Since the Western Han Dynasty, there have been over 321 recorded epidemics, along with accumulated valuable experiences in prevention and treatment through traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Recently, Taiwan’s National Institute of Chinese Medicine developed the "Taiwan Qingguan No. 1" herbal formula, which has shown outstanding efficacy in treating COVID-19, gaining international attention and being hailed as “Taiwan’s pride.” The National Chinese Medicine Physicians Association has also established the “Taiwan TCM Epidemic Prevention Medical Task Force,” providing services to communities in 22 counties and cities, helping those in need. This has inspired greater public recognition and understanding of TCM’s role in combined Chinese-Western epidemic prevention strategies.