China To Boost Therapies For Diseases Of Aging

China's 90 million people aged over 60 account for about 50% of total drug consumption, reports the journal China Medipharm Insights. The elderly population is growing fast, but the national drug industry's product structure is comparatively slow in responding to these changes, it says.

Anti-infectives still account for most of Chinese output, at 27.5% of the total in 1995, yet the major killers now are tumors (treatments for which represent only 9.025% of national drug production), heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. Moreover, 10% of the over-60s in China are estimated to suffer from dementia, yet treatments are few.

In September, the First International Seminar on Medical Science for Geriatrics was held in China. The government has pledged to: - enhance research into geriatric medicines, especially cardiovascular and cerebrovascular drug, and educate the public about these diseases; - strengthen research and production of respiratory drugs - China is far behind international levels, and there are few effective asthma and chronic bronchitis treatments, creating a rapid rise in rural mortality; and - combine the resource advantage of Chinese medicines and western production technologies to develop new drugs and herbal remedies for the diseases of aging.