Six-month campaign for China's drug policing

China's drug regulator has launched a six-month national campaign to improve the policing of drug markets in an attempt to prevent accidents caused by counterfeit drugs and medical equipment.

Local officials of the State Food and Drug Administration were briefed on the campaign's objectives at a national meeting in Beijing, which included the tighter supervision of license applications. The production, distribution and use of drugs, vaccines and medical equipment are all targeted for greater vigilance by the SFDA. The agency's head, Shao Mingli, who has seen both the respective directors of the Department of Drug Registration and the Department of Medical Devices arrested on corruption charges within the past year (Marketletter February 27), told reporters that the campaign "must achieve progress."

China's Vice Premier, Wu Yi, sent a message to the SFDA briefing, which said that "drug and food safety was crucial to people's lives and their supervision and inspection required constant effort and attention."