CHINA HEALTH SCIENCES NEWSLETTER
Vol. 3 , No.21 - August 12, 2002
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- China Defends Drug-Approval Process Amid Japan Diet-Pill Scare
- China's Pharmaceutical Industry to boost New Drug Development
- Donated Mobile Eye-Hospital to Help Xinjiang Patients
- Award will Boost HIV/AIDS Research in China
- Poorest Protected by Medical Subsidy
- International Pharmacy Chain Lands in China
China Defends Drug-Approval Process Amid Japan Diet-Pill Scare
China has defended its drug approval process recently following findings that Chinese-made diet pills and other diet products were linked to the deaths of five people and injuries to hundreds of others in Japan and Singapore.
"In China, we have a very strict certification procedure for health products," said Wang Jianrong, deputy director of the Ministry of Health's law and supervision department. "We assess the safety and efficacy of these health products first," he told reporters.
However, Wang did admit there were problems in China's drug approval system with many drug companies adding illegal substances to their products after receiving production approval.
He added that China was still awaiting details from Tokyo and Singapore before taking action on some drugs identified as harmful, saying that they could still be available on the Chinese market.
Mr. Wang revealed that there were very few ways for the department to detect problems apart from consumer complaints, noting that many health products being produced without licenses have nevertheless managed to avoid official detection, sometimes for years. "There are some problems concerning this kind of mechanism and we are having a review of our mechanism," Wang said.
(Source: Agency France Press)
China's Pharmaceutical Industry to boost New Drug Development
China's pharmaceutical industry is moving to improve its competitive edge as it invests more time and money into the development of new-patented drugs.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has initiated numerous research and development projects in an attempt to make significant technological breakthroughs and setting up new industries in three to five years.
Part of the development project plans to modernize the production of traditional Chinese medicines, from laboratory experiment to production. The project also plans to integrate human and facility resources at national labs, research centers and institutes.
More than 6,700 drug companies produce about 1,300 types of synthetic medicines in China, however, 97% of which are copies. China's commitment to greater protection of intellectual property rights and its entry into the World Trade Organization necessitates its pharmaceutical industry to develop its own drugs if it is to compete locally as well as globally. As international pharmaceutical giants enter and gain a bigger slice of the Chinese market, which is growing into one of the largest in the world with an average growth rate reaching 20% in recent years, the country's pharmaceutical industry needs to undergo substantial restructuring if it is to prosper.
The ministry hopes to see a group of compound synthetic medicines, herbal medicines, bio-engineered drugs, new vaccines and medicines for genetic therapies born as a result of the project.
At present, Chinese companies only invest 2% of their sales income into development, compared with more than 20% by leading international pharmaceutical companies.
(Source: Asia Pulse)
Donated Mobile Eye-Hospital to Help Xinjiang Patients
A mobile hospital donated by Hong Kong citizens will start operating throughout northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in mid August to help local patients suffering from eye diseases, particularly cataracts.
The hospital on wheels, dubbed "Health Express" and built at a cost of approximately RMB 100 million (US $12.5 million), will perform free surgery on a total of 1,000 patients in Kashi City and Aksu Prefecture in southern Xinjiang, a senior government official said. Most of the patients are expected to be impoverished farmers from remote and secluded villages who otherwise would not be able to have such treatment the official said.
It will be the first time the mobile hospital train travels to Xinjiang. In the past four years, the train has toured 24 provinces and regions across China and operated on over 18,000 cataract patients free of charge.
It is estimated that more than 30,000 people suffer from cataracts in Xinjiang with most living in the southern part of the region where heavy sand-carrying winds, strong ultraviolet light and poor water quality often lead to high incidence of eye diseases.
(Source: Xinhua)
Award will Boost HIV/AIDS Research in China
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded a Comprehensive International Program for Research on AIDS grant to China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The new grant, it is hoped, will strengthen China's HIV/AIDS research infrastructure and increase its capacity for research into promising methods of HIV prevention and treatment.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, Mr. Tommy G. Thompson made the announcement during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese Health Minister Zhang Wenkang to promote enhanced U.S.-China cooperation on HIV/AIDS prevention and research.
The grant which will total US $14.8 million over 5-years and will be led by Chinese principal investigator Yiming Shao, MD. The funding will be used to conduct further research in:
*epidemiologic and transmission factors in HIV/AIDS
*behavioral interventions to prevent HIV transmission
*pathogenesis of the virus
*safety and efficacy of anti-HIV drugs
*HIV/AIDS vaccine development
The epidemiologic and behavioral intervention program will take place in the Yunnan and Shanxi provinces. Clinical and laboratory studies will be performed in collaboration with several institutions, including the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Institute of Virology in Beijing, the Medical Primate Center of China, and at Nankai University in Tianjin. The Chinese team has also engaged consultants on HIV/AIDS from the United States who will collaborate on the design and implementation of the research.
(Source: NewsRx.com)
Poorest Protected by Medical Subsidy
Approximately 167,000 impoverished residence of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, southwest China, have been relieved of exorbitant medical charges, after the local government decided to subsidize their medical costs.
According to a regulation soon to come into effect, Chendu has earmark RMB 16. 83 million (US $2 million) this year to easing the plight of people who cannot afford to see a doctor. Those qualified to take advantage of the policy will be subsidized to different degrees, depending on where and how they receive medical treatment.
The regulation has set a ceiling of RMB 5,000 (US $600) for each person this year.
The move is a significant attempt in improving the areas social security system and ensures medical access for people in financial hardship, said Li Xiaoxin, director of Chengdu Labor and Social Security Bureau.
(Source: Xinhua)
International Pharmacy Chain Lands in China
Medicine Shoppe, the world's largest pharmacy chain, recently held a Joint Venture contract signing ceremony with Shenzhen Nep-Star Medical Trading Co., Ltd. and America Investment Group, Pacific Gateway Capital LLC in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
This is the first international pharmacy chain to formally establish itself in China. With a US $1 million head-term purchase price for the licensed management dealership for Mainland China and Hong Kong, neither side revealed the share scale of the joint enterprise. The first store with Medicine Shoppe signage is predicted to open in Shenzhen within two months.
(Source: Asiainfo Services)
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