China's State Council has approved a regulation submitted by the Ministry of Health on banning all medical advertisements.

The Ministry of Health, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and other related government departments are working on specific measures. A revised method on the management of medical ads is expected to take effect sometime this year.

Fake, shoddy medicine and treatment advertisements have flooded the Chinese media, causing serious problems. Ads of medicine and treatment can be found in any newspaper. Many ads usually use exaggerations and the opinions and experiences of false experts and patients.

Chinese Health Minister Gao Qiang recently said that information on medicine and medical treatment should be released by the government free of charge in the future.

The Chinese government has taken measures to crack down on the fake advertisements in recent years. In the 2001-2004 period, more than 70,000 producers of illegal medical treatment ads were investigated and punished by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

However, it is still difficult to check all the illegal ads. The main reason is that China has a large number of small-scale pharmaceutical manufacturers that lack the ability in research and development, and focus on marketing and advertisement, said an official with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Some advertisement companies, in collusion with the media, actively produce medicine ads to stimulate profits.

The prohibition of medical treatment ads will have little impact on public hospitals. However, many newly established private hospitals are worrying that, without advertisement, it will be difficult for them to compete with others.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2005)