China to strengthen capabilities in drug administration

To better protect and promote the health of the public, the General Office of the State Council outlined efforts to enhance the country's capabilities in drug supervision and management in a circular issued on May 10.

It vowed accelerated efforts to establish and improve a scientific, efficient and authoritative system for drug supervision and management to develop China into a pharmacy power, and meet the demand for drug safety.

Supporting laws and rules will be formulated and revised, normative documents sorted out and refined, and the technical manual revised, it said.

And the working mechanism for relative standards led by the government, and participated in by enterprises and social forces will be improved.

Also, it urged improvement in the structuring of institutions for reviewing and inspecting traditional Chinese medicines and biological products, such as vaccines.

The law enforcement system, as well as the inspection and case-handling mechanism, will be perfected and coordination between different departments will be strengthened, it added.

The circular also emphasized efforts to improve the review and testing system for drugs and medical equipment and cosmetics, intensify the lot release capabilities of provincial-level drug review and testing institutions, and strengthen the monitoring system for adverse reactions.

To improve the emergency response system, governments at all levels should improve their emergency plans and emergency control mechanisms. The leadership and coordination in dealing with sudden, major public health accidents should be intensified.

Also, it urged building a national platform for drug tracing, applying big data to supervision of drugs, medical equipment and cosmetics, and using the industrial internet in overseeing vaccines, blood products and special drugs, among others.

Scientific research bases for drug supervision should be built to push forward the application of new tools, new standards and new methods, it added.

It called on efforts to realize the mutual recognition of supervision with other nations and regions.

The circular stressed efforts to strengthen leadership and policy guarantees, and optimize personnel management.