CHINA LEX PHARMA LAW NEWSLETTER
Vol. 2 , No.19- July 25, 2001
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- Statistics Show Heart Disease Drugs Have 44.77% of Total Cardiovascular Drug Market in China
- SDA Grants Approval to Genemedix's GM-CSF
- SDA Extends Drug Retail Licenses in Certain Regions
- Drug Prices Reduced in Beijing
- Shanghai Sets up Emergency Network for Children
- CALCOL to Make and Sell ZER Quick AIDS Test Kits
SDA Retracts Drug Production License, Orders Others to Cease Production
The production license of a pharmaceutical plant of Henan Medical University has been withdrawn by the State Drug Administration (SDA), which recently reported that the herbal drug the plant produced, which claims to fight summer colds, was found to be fake.
An anti-anaerobe medicine, "metronidazole", used for the treatment of infections, has also failed to meet national standards.
18 pharmaceutical factories have been ordered to discontinue production as the SDA survey revealed that the over-the-counter quality of the medicine was very poor.
Five point six percent of the metronidazole drug bought over the counter satisfied national standards. Only 3.6% of the drugs in hospitals and 2.3% of the drugs in factories met with national standards.
The recent crackdown on substandard medicine is in accordance with a recent announcement by SDA that it would intensify supervision of the drug industry.
(Source: AFX - Asia)
China Announces Most Recent Strategy Against HIV/AIDS
China will attempt to keep the annual growth rate of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases below 10% and lower the risk level of HIV infection through blood transfusion to one in every 100,000 by the year 2005.
The government of China, in a country where more than 600,000 people are estimated to be infected by the deadly virus, recently revealed its latest action plan and major goals of curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the country.
The national annual growth rates of STD and HIV/AIDS cases, which may soon pose the world's largest health threat, have remained above 30 percent in recent years, said Chen Xianyi, an official with the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Although the reported number of HIV/AIDS cases was only 23,905 at the end of March, medical experts fear that the actual figure could be 30 times greater as most cases remain undiscovered.
China began a long-term HIV/AIDS prevention and control plan in 1998, aiming to keep HIV infections below 1.5 million by the year 2010.
"However, the plan has not been effectively implemented in some places because local officials are still unaware of the seriousness of the epidemic, even though the actual situation is getting very dangerous," said Chen.
HIV infections through blood transmission (intravenous drug use or an unsafe blood supply and transfusion) make up 71.2% of all HIV/AIDS cases in China.
The government urgently needs to fight against drug use and illegal blood deals, said Chen, deputy director of the MOH Department of Disease Control.
The MOH hopes the new actions will press governments at all administrative levels and the whole of society to quickly face the HIV/AIDS challenge, he said.
According to the new plan, blood for clinical use will have to undergo HIV testing. To ensure the safety of the blood, more than 85 % of blood will be provided by non-profit blood centers.
By the end of next year, 75% of medical institutions above the county level should be able to provide HIV/AIDS patients with standard diagnosis, treatment, counseling, and health promotion services. Eighty-five percent of these institutions should be able to provide treatment for STD patients.
More than half of the HIV/AIDS sufferers are expected to live and receive treatment in neighborhood communities or with their families, which is presently not the case due to rampant discrimination and fear.
In order to create a friendlier environment for HIV/AIDS patients, plus create a better system of prevention, China plans to make relevant knowledge accessible to 75% of the urban population, 45% of rural residents, and 80% of high-risk people such as drug users.
Mass media across the country has also been encouraged to publish and broadcast reports and announcements on a weekly basis to promote the spread of accurate information regarding HIV/AIDS.
The central government has agreed to allocate RMB 100 million (about 12 million US dollars) each year as a special fund for HIV/ AIDS prevention and control, Chen said.
The State Council has also initiated a coordinating mechanism that brings the MOH and other departments together to supervise the implementation of the plan, he added.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
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Blood Screening Made Compulsory by China's Latest Anti-AIDS Plan
According to the most recent five-year program, donated blood in China will undergo extensive screening for the AIDS virus.
The goal of the program is to lower the infection rate to lower than 10%. The present infection rate is believed to be higher than 30% a year.
Despite the fact that the official number of people with AIDS or HIV is approximately 23,000, some health experts believe the real number could be as high as 600 000.
The MOH said that the number of AIDS/HIV sufferers in 1999 was 40% higher than the previous year.
Beijing has tried to regulate the blood-supply industry because private operators cut costs by failing to test for the virus, mixing supplies and using tainted blood, leading to infection of donors and patients.
An anti-AIDS plan begun in 1998 has not been successfully implemented. The failure of the program may be because local officials fear of admitting that drug use and prostitution occur.
According to the recent regulations, 85% of the blood for clinical use will be supplied by non-profit blood centers. However, a HMO spokeswoman has failed to respond to questions regarding where the other 15% would come from.
(Source: AP Worldstream)
Phony Virility Drugs Exposed by CNCA
The China National Consumers' Association (CNCA) has warned men against purchasing bogus medicines to cure erectile dysfunction.
Wang Qianhu, legal division chief of the association, said that after its survey between April and May, the CNCA discovered many fake or substandard medicines on the markets in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The CNCA also announced that in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou almost half of the revenue earned by sex shops comes from fake products that claim to cure sexual dysfunction.
According to a report from the CNCA, some health foods manufacturers exaggerated the curative effects of their products to include the curing of erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation; some medicines contained banned ingredients; and some drug companies produced imitations of famous brands such as Viagra, which has been registered by Pfizer.
The Ministry of Health, the State Drug Administration and other official bodies support the association's nationwide campaign against fake drugs.
Experts from the CNCA said that because Viagra and other curatives for erectile dysfunction are prescription drugs, patients can only buy them in hospitals above the county level.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
Disease Restrains Peasants in China's West From Getting Rich
Disease has been one of the key factors in restricting China's peasants in western regions from becoming rich. This statement was made by the Minister of Health, Mr. Zhang Wenkang, in a recent ceremony to initiate the "Care the West Health Action."
Mr. Zhang stated that since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, there have been substantial developments in village health infrastructure, and the health level of peasants has risen remarkably. However, he admitted that this infrastructure is still comparatively weak, and he encouraged the new health action plan.
The new activity is organized and sponsored by the Ministry of Health, The Office of Helping the Poor Areas under the State Council, The All-China Women's Federation, State Broadcasting, Film and TV Bureau, and Jiangsu Yangtze Pharma Corp.
The activity is to set up primary schools, freely distribute medicine to local orphanages and elderly care homes, financially aid the poor students in western areas, and monitor poor patients.
(Source: www.chinanews.com.cn)
Lehman Lee & Xu
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