In an effort to prevent incidents involving fake drugs and
medical equipment China's pharmaceutical watchdog launched a
six-month long national campaign on Tuesday to improve the policing
of the industries. ?
At a national meeting in Beijing, State Food and Drug
Administration (SFDA) leaders told branch officials to increase
supervision of license applications and the production,
distribution and use of drugs, vaccines and medical equipment.
Drug companies supplying misleading information on their license
applications would be blacklisted and publicly named. Those with
inadequate management, operating illegally or those putting the
safety of drugs in production at risk would be punished, an SFDA
official said.
Drugs packaging, labels and instructions should ensure that
chemical names are more prominent than commercial product titles to
help the public avoid paying inflated prices for common
medicines.
The SFDA also urged improved surveillance and reporting of
negative effects or incidents involving drugs or medical equipment
and a stepping up of coordination with health departments in
publicity and management of drugs in clinical use.
Drug and food safety was crucial to people's lives and their
supervision and inspection required constant effort and attention,
said Vice Premier Wu Yi in a letter delivered to the meeting.
The campaign is due to start in June and "must achieve
progress", said Shao Mingli, head of the SFDA.
Nine people died earlier this month and two others are still
fighting for their lives after receiving fake drugs in Guangzhou,
capital of south China's Guangdong Province. They received injections of
a fake drug supposed to have been "Armillarisni A" produced by the
Qiqihar No.2 Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., a private manufacturer based
in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Two people involved in
that incident remain in a critical condition after falling into
comas.
The government closed the company down and banned the sale of
all its products after the incident was revealed. Efforts are also
being made to trace and recall drugs.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao ordered government departments to
launch a thorough investigation into the incident and intensify the
regulation of pharmaceutical markets.
(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2006)