==Three Years of Disasters==
As the leader of China, Mao initiated the [[Great Leap Forward]], an economic plan intended to rapidly industrialize China's then largely rural economy. This led to an unprecedented famine. [[Deng Xiaoping]] claimed the death toll to be 16 million, while the lowest estimate is 8 million <ref>Mao: The Real Story by Alexander P. Pantsov with Steven I. Levine, pg. 472</ref> One cause was his 'Four Pests' campaign, which listed [[rats]], [[flies]], [[mosquitoes]], and [[sparrows]]. Because killing the sparrows encouraged insects to take out more crops, ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng asked him to stop.
==Cultural Revolution==
From 1966 to 1976, Mao instigated the [[Cultural Revolution]], in which those disloyal to the Chairman were killed or humiliated in order to solidify Mao's control. The low estimate for the death toll is 20 million.
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Estimates vary for the death toll of Mao's regime, as the low estimate for the Great Leap Forward is 8 million though Deng Xiaoping claimed 16 million, as the low estimate for the Cultural Revolution is 20 million.
According to the ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (7/14/94):
{{Quotebox|While most scholars are reluctant to estimate a total number of "unnatural deaths" in China under Mao, evidence shows he was in some way responsible for at least 40 million deaths and perhaps 80 million or more. This includes deaths he was directly responsible for and deaths resulting from disastrous policies he refused to change.}}
{{Quotebox|One government document that has been internally circulated and seen by a former Communist Party official now at Princeton University says that 80 million died unnatural deaths – most of them in the famine following the Great Leap Forward. This figure comes from the Tigaisuo, or the System Reform Institute, which was led by Zhao Ziyang, the deposed Communist Party chief, in the 1980s to study how to reform Chinese society.}}
''See also:'' [[Atheism and medicine]] and [[Atheism and health]]
The efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine is poorly researched and supported.<ref>Shang, A.; Huwiler, K.; Nartey, L.; Jüni, P.; Egger, M. (2007). "Placebo-controlled trials of Chinese herbal medicine and conventional medicine comparative study". International Journal of Epidemiology. 36 (5): 1086–92. doi:10.1093/ije/dym119. PMID 17602184.</ref>