Govt launching comprehensive scrutiny of HK's 500 medicine factories

The government has launched an exhaustive investigation of Hong Kong's 500 Chinese medicine factories, with a threat to close any that fall below standards, according to Director of Health Lam Ping-yan.

The Department of Health (DoH) has already been testing 150 Po Chai Pills samples after some contaminated capsules of the medicine were discovered in Singapore. Ten of those sampled in Hong Kong, five in bottle form and five in capsule form, have been shown to contain sibutramine, a chemical that can increase blood pressure.

Lam emphasized that the current, broader inspection on Chinese medicine factories is unrelated to the Po Chai Pills issue. "The Po Chai Pills problem has no direct relation to the number of patrolling and inspection among the manufacturers," Lam said. "The problem this time relates to the raw materials used for producing the medicine. Yet the examination (of the Chinese medicine manufacturers) will be more and more stringent and careful."

Lam said authorities are seeking the source of the contamination of the pills to establish whether there are grounds for legal action. He added that it might take some time for the quality-ensuring Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines already in place in Hong Kong for seven years to become mandatory for Chinese medicine manufacturers.

Ting Wing-fai, president of the Hong Kong Chinese Prepared Medicine Traders Association, said the contamination of Po Chai Pills had a negative impact on the Chinese medicine market and voiced concern that consumers would lose confidence in the quality of its products.

Ting believes GMP guidelines could help the Chinese medicine industry to improve the quality of the products. He observed that one reason it will take time to impose mandatory standards is that most manufacturers have not yet reached the standard set out in the current guidelines. Ting also says that the composition and the production process of Chinese medicine is complicated, thus creating a higher risk of contamination.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) Monday officially opened the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Authentication Centre at its School of Chinese Medicine. The center was set up to tie in with the development of testing and certification services, one of the six pillar industries to be facilitated by the government.

Professor David Fong Wang-fun, CEO of the Institute for the Advancement of Chinese Medicine (IACM) of HKBU, said during the opening that quality checks during the production process in Chinese medicine are important.

"In some medicine factories, both Chinese and Western medicine are produced in the same production line," Fong said. "Chinese and Western medicine may mix together - which creates problems. Thus it is important to have quality checks during production."

Fong said the Authentication Centre had worked previously as a consultant, advising the manufacturers on do's and don'ts during the production process. He said only seven of the 500 Chinese medicine factories have earned favorable recognition under GMP at this stage. He added that if the guidelines became mandatory, more than 70 percent to 80 percent of the production facilities may have to be closed.

(HK Edition 03/30/2010 page1)