How Traditional Chinese Medicine Can Help Strengthen Slovenia’s Healthcare System

Slovenia’s healthcare system continues to face well-documented structural challenges. According to the Slovenia: Health System Summary 2024 published by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, the most pressing issues include:

• Persistent workforce shortages, particularly among physicians and nurses, with densities below the EU average and especially critical gaps in primary care and rural areas.

• Long waiting times that contribute to higher-than-average unmet needs for medical care.

• Limited long-term care capacity, exacerbated by an ageing population.

• Coordination gaps between primary and secondary care that affect chronic disease management.

• Sustainability pressures linked to demographic change and the financing model of the social health insurance system.

These challenges are real and require multifaceted solutions. At SZKMA – the Slovenian Association of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture – we believe that evidence-based Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Health (TCIH), including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), can play a constructive complementary role.

The World Health Organization has long recognised the potential of traditional and complementary medicine when it is safe, effective, and properly regulated. WHO’s Traditional Medicine Strategy encourages Member States to integrate proven TCIH approaches into national health systems – particularly at the primary care and community levels – to expand access, support prevention, and ease pressure on conventional services.

How regulated TCM can contribute

1. Workforce capacity and working conditions Qualified TCM practitioners (acupuncturists and Chinese herbal medicine specialists with high-level training) can support overstretched primary care teams by managing selected chronic conditions, musculoskeletal pain, and stress-related disorders under clear referral protocols. This task-sharing model, when properly regulated, can reduce the burden on physicians and nurses without lowering clinical standards.

2. Waiting times Many patients currently waiting for specialist appointments or physiotherapy present with conditions where acupuncture and related TCM modalities have demonstrated benefit – particularly chronic pain, migraine, and certain functional disorders. Offering regulated TCM services within or alongside primary health centres can divert appropriate cases from specialist queues and improve patient flow.

3. Long-term care and healthy ageing TCM approaches such as acupuncture, therapeutic exercise (e.g., adapted qigong or tai chi principles), and lifestyle guidance are well suited to community and home-based long-term care. They can help maintain mobility, manage pain, support sleep, and improve quality of life for older adults, reducing pressure on institutional care.

4. Coordination and chronic disease management Integrative care models that combine conventional medicine with TCM encourage better communication between providers and more continuous, patient-centred pathways. This is particularly relevant for multimorbidity and lifestyle-related chronic conditions.

5. System sustainability When delivered by properly trained and regulated practitioners, certain TCM interventions are relatively low-cost and can reduce reliance on higher-cost interventions for selected indications (e.g., some chronic pain pathways). WHO has highlighted the potential contribution of TCIH to cost-effective, people-centred care.

Our principles

SZKMA does not advocate replacing conventional medicine. We advocate responsible, regulated integration. Our core positions are clear:

• Only practitioners with rigorous education that meets European professional standards should be recognised.

• TCM must be clearly distinguished from non-TCM needling techniques.

• Collaboration with physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, and other healthcare professionals is essential.

• Safety, ethics, continuous education, and evidence-informed practice are non-negotiable.

As a member of the European Traditional Chinese Medicine Association (ETCMA), the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS), and EUROCAM, SZKMA works to align Slovenian practice with international professional benchmarks.

A constructive path forward

Slovenia’s primary care strategy to 2031 and ongoing efforts to strengthen community-based services create an opportunity. Pilot programmes that carefully integrate qualified TCM practitioners into selected primary health centres or long-term care pathways – with clear protocols, quality monitoring, and evaluation – could generate useful local evidence while addressing real capacity gaps.

We stand ready to collaborate with the Ministry of Health, professional chambers, primary care providers, and patient organisations. The goal is simple: safer, more accessible, and more sustainable care for the people of Slovenia.

Traditional Chinese Medicine, when practised to high standards and integrated thoughtfully, is not an alternative to the public healthcare system – it can be a valuable partner in strengthening it.

Slovenian Association of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture (SZKMA) For safe, professional, and collaborative TCM in Slovenia