Clinical practice has proven traditional Chinese medicine has been effective in Wuhan in preventing and treating novel coronavirus pneumonia.

As was already generally known, TCM helps not only to prevent diseases from spreading, but also to stop the development of diseases. During my years here in China, I have personally experienced the health benefits.

While new drugs and vaccines to fight and prevent COVID-19 are still under development, time and lives can be saved by improving our own immunity using TCM. All-around use of it is key to extinguish the fire at very beginning and stop the spread.

Now that this epidemic is under control in China, the country is ready to share its experience using TCM with the international community. Many countries are now in a situation similar to the one Wuhan already went through, and other countries are heading towards it.

In past months, I have persisted and stood tall with Chinese citizens in Wuhan. Now, fully aware China's research and development in curing and containing COVID-19 by using TCM is crucial, it is my goal to help promote these findings outside China. I can do this by encouraging my compatriots in Belgium and its surrounding European countries to include TCM in their battle against this devastating epidemic.

I care about the well-being of all people now in the midst of this crisis in my home country. Furthermore, many of my friends there are hospital workers and it is extremely important to protect this vital group. If China's medical experience can play an important role in achieving this goal, we must do our utmost to convey TCM to the new outbreak centers.

Therefore I would like to make a warm, urgent appeal to healthcare institutions and doctors to incorporate TCM in treating, curbing and preventing COVID-19. In doing so the secret weapon that has helped Wuhan win the fight against this virus, can be deployed on new epidemic battlefields.

Jerry Van Oudenhove, from Belgium, is a Foreign Language College teacher at Wuhan University of Bioengineering.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.