Cracking down on misleading advertisements and companies that
provide unsafe beauty treatments will be the priorities of a new
campaign to be launched by the Ministry of Health in a bid to
regulate the healthcare market.
Advertisements for medical products can sometimes be misleading,
exaggerating the function or effects a certain product might have.
In the worst cases, the use of some products can cause illness or
even death.
Earlier this year, a new regulation on advertisements for
medical services was implemented, which aimed to stop companies
from exaggerating the effects of treatments by banning the use of
any disease names.
Under the regulation, an advert can reveal no more than the name
of the medical institution, its address and phone number, specialty
and qualifications, type of ownership, number of beds and opening
hours.
In addition to the ban on false advertising, the ministry said
it will focus on the safety of blood donors and crackdown on
unlicensed medical services during this year's campaign.
It vowed to close down illegal blood-collection centers and
bring to justice those involved in the illegal practice.
The public was alarmed by a report earlier this year that in
some rural areas of south China's Guangdong Province, merchants were collecting
blood from the poor and selling it to underground networks.
In Jieyang, a rural town in Guangdong, some victims were forced
to sell their blood more than a dozen times in a month, earning
their agents more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,300) a month, an
investigative report by the China Central Television network (CCTV)
said.
At a recent high-level conference on the reinforcement of
economic order, Vice-Premier Wu Yi said the country must not relent
in its efforts to crack down on unauthorized medical practices and
the blood trade.
According to Ma Xiaowei, vice-minister of health, China has been
running a campaign since April 2005 to promote blood safety and
crack down on illegal medical practices and significant progress
has been made.
More than 174,000 unregistered medical professionals have been
punished and 2,485 medical agencies, which violated the rules have
had their licenses eliminated, Ma said.
However, Vice-Minister Chen Xiaohong warned that a number of
problems persist, including a lack of attention on the part of
local governments and a lack of supervision by relevant
authorities.
In Beijing, 40 percent of the 116 medical institutions surveyed
by a task force were found to be operating illegally.
(China Daily April 28, 2007)