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HIV/AIDS treatment centre created
By Zhang Feng (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-06-03 08:37 A special centre for infectious diseases will be
established in Beijing to improve China's capacity for treating an increasing
number of patients attacked by epidemics such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome), HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
"The centre will be strongly supported by advanced foreign medications and
devices for infectious diseases, which are getting increasing attention in
China," Wang Guiqiang said.
Wang is the director of infectious diseases department of the First Hospital
with Peking University.
Strongly supported by the Ministry of Health, the Peking University has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CST Technology Group, LLC of the
United States to establish the centre.
China has greatly strengthened its infectious surveillance and prevention
system which was seriously challenged last year by the unexpected SARS crisis.
Meanwhile, medical treatment on emerging diseases, such as SARS, and
established ones like hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, also require new medications,
medical staff and devices. The shortage of qualified doctors and medical
devices, and expensive medicines are big obstacles for China to control
HIV/AIDS, according to Wang Longde, vice minister of the Ministry of Health.
The ministry estimated that there are 840,000 HIV/AIDS cases including 80,000
patients in China. And the number of AIDS patients is increasing rapidly.
Most of these HIV/AIDS cases cannot get enough medicines and medical
services, experts say.
Exclusively representing many pioneering companies and experts in the United
States and Europe, the CST has ability to introduce necessary medications and
treatments proved effective to the centre and other hospitals of China, said
John K Tse, CST's chairman.
Meanwhile, CST has a special advisory group with senior consultants who are
advisers to many of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies or heads of entire hospital systems.
Many clinical trials of new medicines that were invented or conducted by
these advisers can be introduced to the new centre and in China at the same
time, Tse added.
The price of the new medicines can be greatly reduced after trials are
finished and some can be produced in China, Tse told China Daily in an exclusive
interview.
For example, one of the advisers on the panel is Jeffrey Galpin, a clinical
associate professor of medicine from University of South California, widely
regarded as the founder of HIV/AIDS treatment in American.
Galpin has been the supervisor of David Ho, the inventor of the AIDS
"cocktail" treatment method.
Presently, there are only five kinds of anti-HIV medicines that can be
produced in China, which provide quite shabby options for taking "cocktail"
treatment.
In American, dozens of anti-HIV medicines have been created, but cannot be
used widely by Chinese victims due to the high import prices and patent
protection.
"It will be a wise choice for developed foreign companies to reduce their
medicine prices through enlarging co-operation with Chinese side in clinical
trial and production, otherwise, they will lose a huge market," Tse said.
The CST will also make ceaseless efforts to help Chinese doctors including
those from the new centre to receive training in a number of prestigious
universities of the United States, Tse noted.
Along with Beijing University, the CST also signed a memorandum of
understanding for assistance in establishing the centre for infectious disease
control at Kunming Medical College in Yunnan Province.
"We do the co-operation with Yunnan side because we are encouraged by Wang
Longde, who once said that foreign assistance needs to pay more attention to
China's remote areas," Tse said.
The preparation work for the centre in Beijing has almost been finished, and
it is expected to be opened soon, Wang Guiqiang said.
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