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2013

December: 70,000 new HIV infections in 9 months

On World AIDS Day (Dec. 1st), health officials from the National Health and Family Planning Commission reported that there were a total of 70,000 new cases of HIV infections in the first nine months of the year, bringing the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS in China to 434,000. On the same day, a health authority from Shanghai mentioned that "the number of new HIV/AIDS cases has dropped from 18.2% in 2008 to this year’s 10.7%” and that "the disease has a low prevalence in the city.”. On the other hand, health officials from Guangdong Province mentioned that there were 7,030 new HIV cases in the province in the first 10 months, including 2,534 AIDS patients, which is a rise of 2.2% from the previous year. They also added that the number of young people in Guangzhou (between the age of 15~24) infected by the HIV virus is rising by 20% a year. (Source: Xinhua)

November: Incidence rate of diabetes increasing fast in rural areas of China, and the prevalence of diabetes at an "alert level"

At a seminar held in Beijing on Nov. 15th, a senior medical official with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the incidence rate of diabetes among adults in China's rural areas has increased from 1.8% in 2002 to 8.4% in 2010, while the rates for 2011 and 2012 were not available. The official added that the incidence rate in the countryside increased faster than in cities, though the overall incidence rate was still lower than that of cities, and that the rural population has become a priority in diabetes control and prevention. (Source: Xinhua)

The increasing number of diabetes patients in China was also reported on an article in the September 4th issue of JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association). The article was about a study conducted by Dr. Yu Xu, of the Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, and colleagues of the 2010 China Non-communicable Disease Surveillance Group to investigate the prevalence of diabetes and glycemic control in the Chinese adult population. The study was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 98,658 Chinese adults in 2010, with the definition of diabetes and pre-diabetes based on the 2010 American Diabetes Association criteria; whereas, a HbA1c level of <7.0% was considered adequate glycemic control. This study showed that the overall prevalence of diabetes was estimated to be 11.6% in the Chinese adult population, and also, the estimated prevalence of pre-diabetes was 50.1%. In addition, the authors also found that the proportion of patients with diabetes who were aware of their condition was 30.1%. Also, only 25.8% of overall patients with diabetes were treated for this condition, and only 39.7% of those treated had adequate glycemic control. The author wrote, “These data suggest that diabetes may have reached an alert level in the Chinese general population, with the potential for a major epidemic of diabetes-related complications, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, and chronic kidney disease in China in the near future without an effective national intervention".

November: China has the highest number of diabetics in the world

According to the latest statistics from the IDF (International Diabetes Federation), in 2013 the total number of diabetes patients worldwide was 382 million. The country with the most diabetics overall was China with 98.4 million, which is roughly 1/4 of the global diabetic population. This number is expected to rise to 142.7 million in 2035. (Source: IDF)

October: Increasing senior population

China celebrated its first national Seniors' Day on Sunday. The Chinese government has made the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the Double-Ninth Festival, a day to honor senior citizens since 1989, but this year's Seniors' Day is the first time the holiday has been observed since it was written into the revised law on protection of the rights and interests of the elderly.
China's population above age 60 reached 194 million at the end of last year, and China is the only country in the world with a senior population of more than 100 million.
According to a psychologist of Shenyang Mental Health Center, about 5% of the senior population has depression, about 5% seniors suffer from anxiety and about 44% of the elderly have insomnia. This psychologist added that the psychological disease was caused superficially by illness and pain but more deeply it was caused by lack of care from family and society.
In an announcement made by the State Council last month, the number of this age group is expected to reach 243 million by year 2020. (Source: Xinhua)

October: Approximately 25% of Chinese adults suffer from hypertension

On October 8th, which was China's National Hypertension Day, an official from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned that there are a total of 266 million people in China that suffer from hypertension. The official also mentioned that among those aged 15 and above, approximately 24% suffer from this condition and even for adolescents, approximately 15% have elevated blood pressure levels above the norm. According to this official, within these 266 million sufferers, only about 25% are receiving treatment for their hypertension, and 40% are not even aware that they have this condition. The official concluded that the increased incidence of hypertension has been caused by changes in lifestyle and diet, and preventing the condition requires not only medication but also people's awareness. (Source: Xinhua)

September: Increasing Obese Children

According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of obese people under the age of 18 has reached 120 million in 2013, and the number is on the rise. (Source: China Daily)

August: Rising Number of Cardiovascular Patients

According to a report by the National Center for Cardiovascular China, an average of 9,590 people die from cardiovascular diseases each day (which is one person dying from CV diseases every 10 seconds). The report said that China has 290 million patients with cardiovascular diseases, which is an increase of about 60 million compared 2010. (Source: Xinhua)

August: Increase in Obesity Rates

According to a national survey of more than 43,000 adults, a little over 11% of people aged 20~39 in China are obese*. This was an increase of 2% since the last survey conducted in 2010. The average weight gain of this age group was approximately 2kg, which was higher than the other two age groups of 40~59 and 60 years old or higher. The survey also showed that this group (age of 20~39) was the least active exercisers, with 51% of them not exercising on a regular basis. The results also indicated that waist circumferences and hiplines have increased in all age groups, especially among young males and middle-aged females in urban areas. A different survey (The General Administration of Sport survey of 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities) also found that 34.4% of Chinese between 20 and 69 are overweight. (Source: Xinhua)

*Please note that "obese" in China is defined as BMI 28 or above, and not 30 or above as defined by the WHO)

May: New Mental Health Law

China’s first national Mental Health Law came into effect on May 1, 2013. The Law explicitly states that patients with mental disorders (with the exception of those with severe mental illness or have the potential to harm themselves or others) shall receive inpatient treatment purely on a voluntary basis. The law also requires medical institutions to respect the patient's request to be discharged. The law has attracted a great deal of attention since a draft of the law was first submitted for discussion, as reports of people being wrongly institutionalized have increased. (Source: Xinhua)

April: More than 180,000 Medical device Adverse Events in 2012

On April 3rd, China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) released the Annual Report of 2012 Medical Device Adverse Events for the public, and according to this report, China's National Center for Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Monitoring has received more than 180,000 suspicious medical devices adverse event reports in the year 2012.

The top five most reported non-active medical devices were; disposable infusion devices, intrauterine devices, disposable sterile syringes, contact lens and indwelling needles; and these accounted for 38.62% of all reported adverse events.

When reviewing the reports based on where the reports came from, 71.24% were submitted by the healthcare facilities that were using the devices, 21.58% from distributors, 2.49% from manufacturers, and 4.69% from other institutions and individuals.

In terms of where the adverse event happened, 69.26% was in the hospital, 16.17% was at homes, and the rest were others, such as research centers.

In terms of who was operating the device when the adverse event occurred, 72.11% were by medical professionals, 2.34% by non-medical professionals and 12.2% were by patients, and the rest is unknown.

Among the adverse events, 12.95% resulted in serious injury and 0.06% leading to death.
(Source: CFDA news)

March: New China Food and Drug Administration starts

Newly formed China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) started operation on Friday (March 22nd) as a ministerial-level agency to improve food and drug safety. Previously, there were 4 different groups of regulators supervising the food and drug safety - State Council's Food Safety Office, the State Food and Drug Administration, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) – with some overlapping of supervision from different departments and "blind spots". As a result, Chinese consumers have encountered a series of food safety scandals in recent years, including recycled cooking oil, melamine-tainted milk, clenbuterol in pork, and such. These 4 departments are now merged into one as the new regulator (CFDA), and they will be responsible for supervising the entire process of food's production, circulation and consumption, which is expected to make the supervision more effective, professional and transparent. (Source: Xinhua)

March: Updated Essential Drug List

On March 16th, The Ministry of Health announced an updated version of the China's National Essential Drug List (which is catalog of drugs that is covered by all insurance plans in China). The updated list includes 520 drugs (317 Western drugs and 203 TCMs) which is an increase of around 200 drugs compared to the previous list issued in 2009 which included 307 drugs (205 Western / 102 TCMs). Noticeable increase came from anti-tumor drugs, in which 26 drugs were added to the list. Also, quite a few drugs for gynecological and pediatric treatments were also added to the list. (Source: MENET)

January: Among the healthcare-related policies announced in 2012, the following 10 are considered to have impact on the Chinese healthcare industry according to 21st Century Pharmacy Online
The 12th Five-Year Plan:
The State Council officially issued the "12th, Five-Year Plan for National Drug Safety" on February 13, 2012. This plan aims to improve the quality of medicines by standardizing and better regulating the manufacturing and distribution of all medicines. It will also strictly punish those who have produced and/or sold counterfeit and other illegal medicines. Also with this plan, all pharmacies will need to have a licensed pharmacist present during business hours by 2015.
Elimination of drug markups - Pilot reform programs in public hospitals:
Separating medical care and drug sales was one of the key topics during the NPC (National People's Congress) & CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) Annual Sessions in March, 2012. One of the policies announced as a part of the hospital reform program was the elimination of drug markups (up to 15%) that the hospitals could charge for their drug sales, and a pilot program which eliminated this drug markup was implemented in public hospitals in Shenzhen and Beijing.
Strict regulations on antibiotic use:
On May 8th, the Ministry of Health announced a regulation for the clinical application of antibiotics, which took effect from August 1st. The key 3 elements of this regulations are; categorization of antibiotics to "non-restricted", "restricted", and "for special use", limitations on the number of types of antibiotics a medical institution can purchase, and the implementation of a system to manage and supervise the use of antibiotics including legal responsibilities (e.g. punishments for misuse).
Further cut on drug prices:
On October 8th, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced a new round of retail price cuts for 95 drugs and more than 200 formulations for oncology drugs, immune system drugs and blood products. The retail price reduction averaged 17%. This price cut is in line with the previous price adjustment that the NDRC made in March, mainly for digestive drugs, which also cut the prices by 17% on average.
Expansion of the National Essential Drugs List:
The previously issued China's National Essential Drug List in 2009 (a catalog of drugs that is covered by all insurance plans) included 307 drugs (205 Western drugs and 102 TCMs). The Ministry of Health announced that they plan to increase this list to around 700.
Blacklist system for unsafe drugs:
On August 15th, the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) released a regulation that will go into effect from October, which will blacklist manufacturers of unsafe medication. With this regulation, the information of those found responsible for seriously violating drug safety regulations and medical equipment regulations will be blacklisted and posted on government websites for public supervision. Offenders may also be faced with a 10 year suspension of their operations.
Five standards for the pharmaceutical circulation industry:
On December 1st, the Ministry of Commerce officially announced five standards for the drug distribution industry, which are; "Assessment indicators for logistic service capability of wholesale enterprises" "Service standards of retail pharmacies" "operational guidelines for pharmaceutical circulation enterprises" "qualification standards for professional managers in the industry" and "position setting standards (such as president, store managers, quality control managers etc.) for pharmaceutical circulation enterprises".
Six OTC ephedrine-containing medications switched to prescription medication:
Following the earlier policy in September that required pharmacies to check and register IDs for people purchasing ephedrine-containing OTC medications, the SFDA announced on December 6th, that they have restricted the sale of six OTC medications that contain over 30mg of ephedrine. These medications will now only be available as a prescription drug.
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