Experts at a national meeting on traditional Chinese medicine
development reached a consensus Sunday that it is an urgent job to
protect intellectual property rights of traditional Chinese
medicine.
They also called for research into a patent application strategy,
the establishment of a fund for international patents and active
participation in making WTO rules
for protecting the intellectual property rights of traditional
Chinese medicine.
Hong Jing, a research fellow with the State Administration of
Traditional Chinese Medicine, said currently 97.4 percent of the
chemical medicine produced in China is modeled after foreign
products. And this will come to an end after China enters the World
Trade Organization.
Then the development of traditional Chinese medicine, which is
unique in the world, will be strategically important for Chinese
pharmaceutical enterprises to produce new medicine, Hong said.
"Only when we attach enough importance to an integrated protection
of the intellectual property rights of traditional Chinese
medicine, can the industry grow strong and become mature," she
added.
In
China more than 12,000 kinds of animals, plants and minerals are
used in making traditional Chinese medicine, which has been proven
effective for many functional diseases and diseases in the immune
system, among others. Acupuncture and qigong are also world
famous.
70% International Herbal Medicine Market Occupied by Foreign
Companies
Traditional Chinese medicine also witnesses a growing international
market as the European
Union is making laws on it and the United States has approved
clinic research into compounds with herbal medicine ingredients,
Hong said.
Foreign companies on the other hand have benefited greatly from the
free use of China's formulas of traditional Chinese medicine, she
said.
It
is estimated that foreign companies have occupied over 70 percent
of international proprietary herbal medicine market. Some even sell
their products to China.
In
contrast, Chinese medical industry has just realized the importance
of intellectual property rights, Hong said. Thus measures must be
taken to strengthen protection as soon as possible.
Traditional Chinese medicine accounts one fifth of China's medicine
market, with the output value of patent medicine reaching 38.5
billion yuan (US$4.67 billion) a year.
Bright Future in Store for Traditional Herbal Medicine
China's traditional herbal medicine should have a bright future in
the 21st century, Chinese medical experts said during a recent
symposium in Hangzhou, capital of East China's
Zhejiang Province.
According to figures released during the symposium, the global
trade volume of herbal medicine totaled US$16.4 billion in 1998 and
is showing annual double-digit growth.
This demonstrates that more people worldwide have accepted the
healing powers of herbal medicine, the experts said.
During the meeting, some experts pointed out that modern diseases
are no longer easily treatable using Western medicine, which can
lead to a body becoming immune if used for a long period of time.
In addition, some types of Western medicine have many side effects
that prompt some patients to seek alternative treatment.
Chinese traditional herbal medicine, with its limited side effects
and long-term application, has proven to be more effective in
treating chronic and difficult diseases, the experts said. But with
the spread of knowledge about herbal medicines and more media
coverage of successful stories, traditional medicine is gaining
more favor worldwide.
( November 26, 2001)