China capable of ensuring drug safety for its people

BEIJING, July 18 (Chinese media) -- China is capable of

safeguarding drug safety for its people, the State Food and Drug

Administration(SFDA) Director Shao Mingli said here on Friday.

Shao made the remarks during an exclusive interview

with Chinese media on the first white paper on Status Quo of Drug Supervision in China

published on Friday.

"In the past, what people were concerned about is

whether they have drugs to cure their diseases, but now what they are concerned

is which drug is better and safer," he said.

"This change reflects that people's awareness about

health is increasing with China's economic development in the past 30 years," he

said.

"To safeguard drug safety for the public is an

important task for governments at various levels and the basic obligation for

drug supervision bureaux," he said.

For many years the Chinese government has been

continuously improving its drug safety supervision system, its drug safety

technical supporting system and related laws and regulations, he said.

By the end of 2007, 64,000 drug supervision officials

worked for 2,692 drug regulatory departments and the State Council promulgated

17 administrative regulations concerning drugs.

China also implements a certification system in line

with international standards such as Good Manufacturing Practice certification

for pharmaceutical manufacturers and Good Laboratory Practice certification for

non-clinical drug research.

In the meantime, China has continued to spend more

money to upgrade its drug supervision technology.

Shao cited the testing vehicles used for quake relief

after the earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan on May 12. The vehicles acted

as moving testing labs.

"The testing vehicles are widely used in China's vast

rural areas and play an important role in combating fake drugs," he said.

China, however, as the largest developing country,

still faces many difficulties and problems in drug supervision, he said.

"China will continue its efforts to guarantee drug

safety and improve the health of the public," he said.

The white paper, the first of its kind, summarizes

China's drug supervision, which is helpful for the international community to

learn about China's status quo of drug supervision and promote international

cooperation in this field, he said.