CHINA HEALTH SCIENCES NEWSLETTER
Vol. 4 , No. 6 - March 31, 2003
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- Hong Kong Scientists Closer on Curing Mystery Disease
- China Builds AIDS Control Pilot Regions
- China Receives International Donation for Anti-Disease Battle
- Chinese Malaria Expert on Verge of Winning the Fight Against the Disease
- Sino-German Petrochemical Project Planned for China's Jiangsu Province
- Chemical Industry to Boost Production by 8.5%
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Hong Kong Scientists Closer on Curing Mystery Disease
Scientists in Hong Kong believe they are closer to finding a cure for the mystery illness that has so far killed 11 people and infected over 300, with concerns that the disease may also be spreading.
Microbiologists at the University of Hong Kong announced that they have developed a test to diagnose severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, bringing them nearer to determining how to best treat it.
The World Health Organization said it appears "that the test is reliably identifying cases of SARS infection," but noted that the virus causing the disease has not yet been pinpointed.
Local media reported on the weekend that a 39-year-old woman contracted SARS from a colleague, becoming the first person known to have contracted the illness in an office, health officials said.
Hong Kong health officials have said repeatedly there is no threat to the community at large.
Hong Kong health officials met with China's Health Minister Zhang Wenkang over the weekend and discussed ways to cooperate in the fight against infectious illnesses. But Zhang insisted there was no proof showing the killer pneumonia disease spread from the mainland to Hong Kong.
(Source: Associated Press Worldstream)
China Builds AIDS Control Pilot Regions
China's Ministry of Health recently launched a national project to set up dozens of pilot regions that will provide comprehensive medical services for HIV carriers and AIDS patients.
Over the next three years a total of 100 counties from 11 provinces or regions will act as experimental areas in the search for effective ways to prevent, treat and control the spread of HIV and AIDS. In these counties, a service network will be established to provide medical treatment and social care.
The pilot counties have been selected for the project because of their large numbers of populations of HIV virus suffers, many of who contracted the virus through illegal blood transfusions or by drug abuse and prostitution.
More than 90% of HIV and AIDS sufferers are expected to benefit from the pilot program in the form of medical treatment and other social and mental support, according to a state AIDS control and prevention official.
(Source: Xinhua Economic News Service)
China Receives International Donation for Anti-Disease Battle
China has received a donation of US$ 54 million from the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria (GFATM) for its battle against TB and malaria.
The money will be received over the next 5 years and is to be used by the nation's medical system. In the first two years, US$ 26 million and US$ 3.6 million will be used to control TB and malaria respectively.
A TB specialist with the World Health Organization, said the remaining US$ 24.4 million will be used to continue the work if the program is implemented smoothly and successfully in the first two years.
The China Center of Disease Control has been designated as the managing body of the fund and will supervise how the money is used.
An official from the Ministry of Health pledged that every effort would be made to best use the fund to treat patients, control the diseases and cut infection rates.
(Source: Xinhua General News Service)
Chinese Malaria Expert on Verge of Winning the Fight Against the Disease
Professor Li Guoqiao, of the Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is reported to have developed a cure for malaria. Named "Artekin", the new malaria treatment is receiving strong support from mainland officials. Artekin is claimed not only to produce rapid results, but its short, two-day treatment schedule makes it easier for patients to complete their treatment.
Professor Li said the drug was being sold to public hospitals for US$ 1.20 per dose, which is about a third of the price of similar treatments.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), which made two inspections last year of the Guangzhou factory which produces Artekin, said it had the greatest potential of all malaria drugs.
Janis Lazdins-Helds, a scientist with the WHO's special programme for research and training in tropical diseases, said the WHO still needed to define the conditions under which Artekin would be the most effective before adding the drug to its Model List of Essential Drugs.
Scientists attending the Mekong Malaria Symposium in Cambodia last December announced that early clinical trials of Artekin eradicated 95% to 100% of the malaria parasites in patients who were tested.
Concerns over counterfeit drugs have not stopped Professor Li from marketing Artekin, especially to governments that were less able to afford drugs in the past.
Mainland officials hope that if Artekin is successful, the drug will break Western pharmaceutical companies' dominance of the malaria drug market. Chinese companies currently have a market share of only 1%.
In January, Artekin was export certified by the State Administration of Chinese Traditional Medicines - the first Chinese-made medicine into the international arena. Professor Li said the drug would be sold in Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.
Artekin is made from a mixture of the anti-malaria drugs dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and piperaquine. DHA is derived from artemisinin, traditionally called qinghaosu, and was first extracted in 1978.
Professor Li said the Artekin two-day treatment schedule consisted of two pills every six hours each day. "Qinghaosu itself has a short half-life of one to four hours. This means its concentration reaches a climax and then it is excreted within the period," he said. "With a short half-life, a longer treatment of seven days is needed. However, many uneducated patients drop the treatment after a few days and think they are cured. With piperaquine, the half-life is extended to between nine days and two weeks."
The plant species from which the drug is made originates from Wuling Mountain in Chongqing.
(Source: South China Morning Post)
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BASF, Sinopec, and the Yangtze Petrochemical Company have agreed to raise US$ 1.4 billion for a giant Sino-German joint venture petrochemical project in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.
Construction on the project, which started in December 2000, is expected to be finished in 2004 and the project is due to commence commercial operation in 2005.
The project is expected to produce 600,000 tons of ethylene annually and 1.7 million tons of other petrochemical products.
With 6 Chinese and overseas banks underwriting the project it is the largest sum ever raised for a petrochemical project of this nature.
China has set a target of 8.5% growth in its chemical industry, according to recently release economic report on the national petroleum and chemical industry.
The output value of the petroleum and chemical industry in 2002 was estimated at RMB 1,390 billion, an increase of 5.2% year-on-year, and profit totaled RMB120 billion, up 9.3%. Included in this profit figure was RMB 25 billion attributed to the chemical industry, up 90% on the previous year. The chemical and oil refining industries ranked second and fourth in the country respectively in terms of profit increase.
