Chinese Ministry of Health plans to ban drug and medical advertisements to better regulate the market and guarantee the safety of drugs, according to a senior health official.
  
"Ads of drugs and medical services have to be banned," Vice-Minister Gao Qiang said at a panel discussion with 10 other members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Monday. "It's improper for hospitals and pharmaceutical enterprises to put up ads at the patients' expenses."
  
He said the ministry is drafting a proposal to the State Council, China's cabinet, to ban medical advertisement.
  
China's annual spending on medical advertisements has topped 4 billion yuan (US$480 million) for the past three years in a row, said Liu Yuting, deputy director of the General Administration for Industry and Commerce.
  
Besides TV commercials, the print media and Internet, medical ads are constantly found in unauthorized leaflets delivered by roadside, he said.
  
Liu said his administration uncovered more than 40,000 illegal advertisements of health-related products between 2001 and 2004, nearly 75 percent of which were put up by medical institutions, including privately-run hospitals boasting effective cures for cancer or some other deadly diseases.
  
"We'll strictly enforce the banning rule, should it be approved by the State Council," said Liu, adding his administration is drafting regulations governing the operation of advertisement companies. "This will hopefully help curb rampant exaggerated advertisements."

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2005)