A Spanish businessman becomes a dedicated advocate of traditional Chinese medicine after witnessing its effects in treating his terminally ill young son.  

The author Ramón Maria Calduch 

My relationship with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) – and with China – began in 1988, when I traveled to Beijing with my two-year-old son Joan. He was suffering from an extremely rare disease called leukoencephalopathy, in which the brain is affected, and we wanted to explore treatment possibilities.

I am not actually a TCM practitioner. I am a Spanish economist and lawyer. I also analyze Chinese medicine-related regulations in different countries, a subject on which I have given numerous conferences, written numerous articles and on which I defended my doctoral thesis.

In 1988 I visited the most authoritative Western medicine experts in Europe and it was predicted that treatments would not work for Joan. They gave him a life expectancy of less than a year, and said during this period he would suffer muscle atrophy, which would become increasingly severe and painful.

Faced with such a terminal illness, I decided to travel with Joan to Beijing on the recommendation of a friend. Chinese medicine treatment was his last ray of hope. We lived in the Beijing Friendship Hotel for a year, and doctors from the Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing Institute of TCM, (now the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine,) carefully treated him with acupuncture, qigong (a system of coordinated body posture and movement, breathing, and meditation), TCM and tuina (a complementary massage therapy) with gratifying results.

Therefore, I decided to promote TCM in Spain and signed a cooperation agreement with the Beijing Institute of TCM with the aim of widely spreading TCM treatment and education by opening clinics and schools in Spain to benefit Spanish and other European citizens.

A group of Spanish TCM practitioners begin a three-week massage and acupuncture course at the Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, on July 10, 2017. 

Once I opened the first TCM clinic in my hometown Amposta in 1989, I took Joan back home and, with the tireless treatment by doctors from the Dongzhimen and Guanganmen hospitals in China, his life was prolonged for five years. His pain was alleviated very significantly, his quality of life was greatly improved and he finally passed away peacefully at home.

In 1990, I founded the Higher School of TCM in Spain to carry out, together with TCM services, a four-year advanced study program. Since then, the therapeutic efficacy of TCM and acupuncture has gained the trust of more and more Spanish people. Subsequently, we have opened more than 10 clinics in the main cities of Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Tarragona and Alicante.

Through the more than 15,000 patients treated annually and our cooperation with the Beijing and Yunnan universities in TCM, local people have learned that acupuncture and TCM are a complete medical system and a formal higher education career. The number of people interested in learning TCM is also increasing. Every year, more than 500 students enrol for TCM studies at the Higher School of TCM of the Universidad Europea del Atlántico, which is affiliated to the European Foundation of Traditional Complementary Integrative Medicine (FEMTCI).

Aware of the need and importance of legislation for the proper development of TCM in Spain and other Western countries, together with FEMTCI professionals I have worked over the last 35 years. In my doctoral thesis I analyzed the legal situation of this ancient medicine in different countries with the aim of promoting a law that regulates the higher education and professional practice of Chinese medicine in Spain.

In June 2017, I defended my doctoral thesis at the Abad Oliva CEU University of Barcelona and obtained my PhD in law with my thesis “Towards a European training in Chinese medicine: Its incorporation into the Spanish university system.”

Over the years, the FEMTCI has established collaborative relationships with various academic and scientific institutions in China, Latin America and other continents. Likewise, through the FEMTCI, I collaborate with the main international TCM organizations such as the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS), World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies and the World Traditional Medicine Forum.

In 2009, the WFCMS awarded me the International Prize for Contribution to TCM and in 2022, the China International Culture Exchange Center and Global People magazine gave me the title of Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship.

Many years of work and dedication have brought recognition, regulations and prestige for TCM in Spain and Europe at large. I am well aware of the work that still remains to be done to promote understanding and recognition of these ancient medical practices among different audiences, including politicians, health professional associations and patient associations, in order to generate support and awareness for the regulation process.

As Sun Tzu’s classic book The Art of War points out, perseverance and determination are the cornerstones of success.  

RAMÓN MARIA CALDUCH is president of the European Foundation of Traditional Complementary and Integrative Medicine and president of the European Chamber of Commerce for TCM.