China mulls banning medical treatment ads
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-08-02 19:58

Fake, shoddy medicine and treatment advertisements, flooding on Chinese media, have caused serious problems, and the government is considering banning all the medical treatment ads.

Chinese Minister of Health Gao Qiang recently said the ministry had submitted the plan of banning medical treatment ads to the State Council for approval. Medical treatment information should be released by the government free of charge in the future.

In China, ads of medicine and treatment can be found in any newspaper. The ads usually use exaggerated words and the opinions and experiences of false experts and patients.

Most of those ads are illegal according to Chinese related laws. However, they still appear on Chinese newspapers, magazines and even the authoritative TV stations.

A survey conducted by an advertisement supervision department of Beijing among 38 key media found that 100 percent of the medical treatment ads on those media since April broke regulations, although the total rate of illegal ads of those mediawere only 0.39 percent.

About 62 percent of the ads released on 45 Chinese television wave bands from January to September in 2004 broke related laws and regulations. Among the 7,315 medicine ads on 98 Chinese newspapers from June to August in 2004, 95 percent were illegal.

Chinese government took measures to crack down on the fake advertisements in recent years. More than 70,000 illegal medical treatment ads were investigated and punished by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce from 2001 to 2004.

However, it is still difficult to check the illegal ads. The main reason is that China has a large number of small-scale pharmaceutical manufactures, said an official from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Those small medicine companies have low research and development ability, focusing on marketing and advertisement, saidthe official.

At the same time, the advertisement companies actively produce medicine ads for the great profit. And the media publish the ads for the high interest as well.

A medicine agent said if a kind of medicine has 10 percent curative effect, the advertisement would say 200 percent. "Our principle is that as long as the medicine does not cause death, itis OK."

A lady working in TV station said 70 percent of the ads income of the station in 2004 came from medical treatment ads.

However, some experts said supervision and management should bestrengthened to deal with the problem in stead of banning all medicine and treatment ads. Producer and media publishing illegal ads should be seriously punished. Government should offer regular medical information to the public.

Close

Four killed in Guangdong building collapse Traffic accident in Harbin The Guanling cattle market

Today's Top News     Top China News
CNOOC likely to drop bid for Unocal - sources         China's yuan hits 4th straight high         N. Korean envoy: No progress at nuke talks         China, Russia to launch military drill         Discovery astronauts prepare for repairs         US says could seek China textile deal	China proposes new draft at nuke talks       China's yuan sets another mark       US says could seek China textile deal       China's economy sends slowdown signals       Stronger RMB boosts steel sector       No new cases in pig disease outbreak