CHINA HEALTH SCIENCES NEWSLETTER
Vol. 3 , No.25 - November 8, 2002
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- Chinese President Reaffirms Need to Improve Public Health in Rural Areas
- China an Advanced Country in Medical Biology
- Herbal Medicine Museum opens in Northwest China
- Cooperative Medical Fund Benefits Farmers
- Joint Venture Initiated with National Human Genome Center of Shanghai
Chinese President Reaffirms Need to Improve Public Health in Rural Areas
China will strive to improve healthcare in rural areas, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said in a letter to a national conference on public health in rural areas held recently.
Jiang said the Chinese government had placed great importance on public health in rural areas and had just announced a new plan to further improve rural sanitation and healthcare. The national conference on public health in rural areas which recently opened in Beijing, will discuss such topics as how to revitalize the cooperative health care system for rural dwellers, push forward restructuring of rural hospitals and improve the education and supervision of rural medical workers.
The improvements in China's healthcare system has resulted in the infant mortality rate dropping from 200 per thousand babies in 1949 to 33.8 per thousand last year; while the mortality rate of rural pregnant women fell from 1,500 for every 100,000 in 1949 to 61.9 per 100,000 last year. And the average life expectancy of rural dwellers has risen from 35 years approximately 50 years ago to 69.6 years old in 2000.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
China an Advanced Country in Medical Biology
China is one of the leading countries in the world in the field of medical biology, a senior health official has claimed at a recent seminar.
Zheng Xiaoyu, head of the State Drug Administration, said the country was producing 21 forms of genetically engineered drugs and vaccines, including eight of the 10 best-selling products. Mr. Zheng said that a sizable genetically engineered pharmaceutical industry had emerged in China, as an increasing number of research findings were turned into industrial products.
China's man-made blood products would soon be applied to clinical use, while its body cell cloning technology and genetic diagnosis of hereditary disease technology were both among the most advanced in the world, he said.
China had also begun researches into the clinical application of genetic technology in the treatment of cancer, hemophilia and four other kinds of diseases.
Mr. Zheng also acknowledged a number of chronic problems still hampering China's biomedical industry, including inadequate research and development investment and the lack of encouraged industrialization of research findings.
(Source: Xinhua Economic News Service)
Herbal Medicine Museum opens in Northwest China
A museum of traditional Chinese herbal medicines with over 300 kinds of medical herbs on display has been established in Shangluo City, Shaanxi Province, northwest China. Shangluo, which has sub-tropical and temperate zones, is home to a large variety of medical herbs.
Shangluo is known as the "Bank of Natural Medicine" in China. In the area, local people have found 1,192 of 2002 kinds of medical herbs that are listed in the "collection of the resources of medical herbs in the country".
(Source: Xinhua Economic News Service)
Cooperative Medical Fund Benefits Farmers
Ms. Huang Zhinu spent over BRM 5,000 (US$ 600) in treating her heart condition last year, a large sum for a 75-year-old lady living in a small village in south China's Guangdong Province.
However, Ms. Huang received half the money back from the villagers' committee because she had a cooperative medical card. Under the scheme initiated 10 years age, each villager pays RMB 10 - 20 to the medical fund. If a villager falls ill and has to go to hospital, he or she can have 30 - 50% of the medical expenses covered by the fund. The maximum amount a participant can recoup in one year is RMB 3,000.
Prior to the establishment of the fund, farmers had to cover their own medical expenses. Statistics from the province's poverty-relief office show that in 2000, 17 - 30% surveyed were impoverished as a result of high medical costs.
Local officials say that in the future, more farmers in poor areas can expect to enjoy medical care benefits similar to those available in the village where Huang Zhinu lives.
Realizing the scheme's value, the provincial government of Guangdong has decided to allocate RMB 360M (US$ 43.5M) to help establish similar funds.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
Joint Venture Initiated with National Human Genome Center of Shanghai
The commercial arm of the National Human Genome Center of Shanghai, has received a license to operate a joint venture from the municipal government of Shanghai.
The joint venture will focus on pre-clinical/clinical development of human therapeutic antibodies to be used against many different diseases. The companies will contribute their respective antibody development capabilities to the joint venture. It is hoped that the joint venture will generate revenue from licensing human mAb leads, selling mouse mAb reagents and contract services focused on custom mAb engineering, animal testing, and process designs for production and clinical trials.
The market potential for therapeutic antibodies in Asia is enormous. Other factors influencing this market are the increasing aging populations in China (230 million in year 2020), the strong economic growth in China (>7% annual growth, >9 trillion RMB GDP 2001), increasing household expenses in medicine, and China's entry into the WTO. There are over 13 million cancer patients, 50 million RA patients (compared with 2.1 million in the U.S.) and very large populations with other autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases in China. There is currently no human antibody therapeutic available on the Chinese market.
(Source: Genomics & Genetics Weekly)
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