China's research of the pharmaceutical service is still in a
fledgling stage and is far from satisfying doctors or patients,
medical chiefs said yesterday.
"With the deepening of medical care reform and improvement of
people's health awareness, consumers and patients are demanding
more knowledge on the use and choice of medicine," said Yuan
Tianxi, vice-president of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association
(CPA), at a recent forum.
Statistics reveal at least 200,000 people in China died from an
improper use of medicine each year, accounting for 11 percent to 26
percent of the total number who use medicine.
Pharmaceutical services, which involve every aspect of the pharmacy
industry ranging from medicine production to circulation, exert a
key influence on the results of medical treatment, he said.
"There lacks a legal definition for pharmaceutical services in
Chinese law, regulations and documents related with medicine," said
Xu Jiaqi, an official with the State Drug Administration.
He
noted that a complete legal system concerning pharmaceutical
services, as well as a self-discipline mechanism, have been
established in many developed countries.
"Careful thinking should be given to the definition of medical
services, which would be crucial to the work of medical units and
medicine producers, dealers and chemists," he said. "An essential
difference exists between the service of pharmaceuticals and of
other commodities."
In
addition, the nation should strengthen supervision of
pharmaceutical services in advance, instead of retrospectively.
Enhanced examination and appraisal of pharmacists and medical
workers should be introduced to guarantee the safety of people who
take medicines, he said.
To
improve pharmaceutical services, unfair competition during the
process of drug purchasing and sales should be stopped, said Liu
Min, an official in charge of eliminating unfair competition under
the State Administration of Industry and Commerce.
"Pharmaceutical enterprises should enhance training and their legal
knowledge to resist the activities of unfair competition," she
urged.
More effective measures of self-discipline should be adopted in the
pharmaceutical services sector to ensure the market order of
medicine purchasing and sales, said the official.
(China Daily March 21, 2003)