| UNAIDS chief heaps praise on China's anti-AIDS efforts (2)
Nandawu Village, along with several other villages in Shangcai County, has been hit in the international media spotlight over the past decade due to its high incidence of AIDS, a result of illegal blood deals made before 1995.
Shangcai County, a poverty-stricken region home to more than one million people, had 6,925 HIV/AIDS patients by the end of July 2006, with most of the people having contracted the disease because of the contaminated blood donations or transfusions.
Since the beginning of 2004, the Chinese government has expended huge efforts in tackling the problem by intensifying publicity work, building more clinics, dispatching medical teams and offering free checkups and meditation.
More than 2,500 HIV/AIDS victims in Henan Province have received free traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment in the past two years, according to provincial health authorities.
Chinese set to pay more for medicinal herbs
Traditional Chinese medicine patients are set to pay more for their remedies this year because of dwindling herb supplies.
The prices of 262 frequently used herbs-- 52.4 percent of the key 500 herbs -- rose in the first half year, according to China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy (CATCMP) here Monday.
The cost of several commonly used medicinal herbs had surged rapidly, such as the angelica, a blood tonic, up from 10 RMB (1.31 U.S. dollars) to 60 RMB per kilogram, and one rare herb, saffron crocus, a remedy for gynecological ailments, rose from 5,000 RMB to 8,000 RMB a kilogram.
Besides paying more in drugstores, Chinese consumers will also pay more for prepared Chinese medicines, said Wang Ying, vice chairman of the CATCMP.
Director of medical hall fined for practising TCM illegally
SINGAPORE: The director of Oriental Medical Hall in Toa Payoh Lorong 4 has been convicted for practising traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) illegally. Ma Tianfeng, who is not a registered TCM practitioner, was caught practising at Block 2A Eunos Crescent. She was fined S$10,000, or in default, jailed two months on Wednesday. The TCM Practitioners Board says it takes a serious stand against unregistered persons engaging in illegal TCM practice. It also advises the public to consult only registered practitioners. - CNA/so .
Chinese Clinic Rapped For Making False Claims
In an adjudication published recently, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has fully upheld the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) complaints about a company in Maidstone, Kent. The Everwell Chinese Medicine Centre was advertising Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) and making inaccurate and misleading medicinal claims.
The MHRA raised its concerns with the ASA on 10 January 2007, that the public was at risk from claims being made in a leaflet produced by the company. The leaflet said that its Chinese medicines could treat terminal illnesses, as well as a wide range of other health problems such as ME, MS, paralysis, impotence, infertility, psoriais, arthritis, hypertension, blood pressure, strokes and depression, all of which are serious or prolonged medical conditions.
Dwindling supply buoys herb price
Traditional Chinese medicine patients are set to pay more for their remedies this year because of dwindling herb supplies. The prices of 262 frequently used herbs-- 52.4 percent of the key 500 herbs -- rose in the first half year, according to China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy (CATCMP) Monday. The cost of several commonly used medicinal herbs had surged rapidly, such as the angelica, a blood tonic, up from 10 yuan (US$1.31) to 60 yuan per kilogram, and one rare herb, saffron crocus, a remedy for gynecological ailments, rose from 5,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan a kilogram. Besides paying more in drugstores, Chinese consumers will also pay more for prepared Chinese medicines, said Wang Ying, vice chairman of the CATCMP. "With the rapid increase in agricultural product prices last year, many herb farmers switched to planting agricultural products," said Wang.
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