China Acts To Curb Fake Medicines

China's State Council has called for the tightening of controls over the management of pharmaceutical and medical products, and emphasized that all drug production units will be inspected to ensure that they are manufacturing bona fide products only.

All provinces have been urged to take "firm and resolute action" to supervise the sale and production of medicines, with the aim of cracking down on fake drugs, reports the official Xinhua news agency. State Counsellor Peng Peiyun said in Beijing that medical management and supervision nationwide left much to be desired, with some regions encouraging the production and sale of substandard medicines in order to boost the local economy. But she congratulated Liaoning, Hubei, Guangdong, Hainan and Sichuan provinces on their efficiency in cracking down on the production and sale of fake medicines. Officials of the Ministry of Public Health and the State Pharmaceutical Administration inspected pharmaceutical plants in these five provinces in February, and closed down a number of facilities that had long been dealing in Chinese and western medicines illegally.

Official figures show that China handled more than 80,000 cases of producing and selling fake and substandard medical products during 1985-93, with 24,500 cases being handled in 1993.