An improved management regulation will mean tougher punishments for those responsible for bogus medical adverts, officials said yesterday.

The Management Regulation on Illegal Medical Advertisements, a revision of the original 1993 rule, will come into effect on January 1 next year, according to officials at a press conference jointly held by the Ministry of Health and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC).

Li Yali of the SAIC said the new regulation would substantially raise the level of punishment for both advertising agencies and advertisers.

Li said the SAIC has the power to suspend or even withdraw medical advert licenses if agencies, including advertising companies and mass media, severely violate the regulation.

The new regulation would also give health and drug administrative departments the power to punish medical institutions for the placing of illegal medical ads.

Medical institutions severely violating the regulation will be ordered to suspend their service, cancel relevant clinics or even have their practice licenses rescinded and be closed down.

The old regulation, Li said, only gives financial penalties.

According to the revised regulation, a preview system will be established in provincial-level health administrative departments to look over contents of medical advertisements before they are printed or broadcast. Medical adverts will have to gain preview certificates from health administration departments before they are published.

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