China to set up monitor for anaesthetic drugs

BEIJING, June 26 (Reuters) China will set up a national surveillance network to monitor the production, distribution and use of anaesthetic and psychotropic drugs, Xinhua news agency reported.

An existing surveillance network piloted in 11 provinces and municipalities would be rolled out to the rest of the country and be fully operational by the end of the year, Xinhua said, citing China's drug watchdog, the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).

The network would ''enable drug watchdogs at all levels to detect irregularities in the production and distribution of anaesthetic and psychotropic drugs to prevent problems at an early stage'', Xinhua quoted the SFDA as saying.

The SFDA had also requested local authorities to ramp up checks on drug factories, including those making caffeine and methamphetamine-based products, Xinhua said.

Fresh scandals involving fake food and medicines are revealed by Chinese media almost every day, and the issue has burst into the international spotlight since tainted additives exported from China contaminated pet food in North America.

China has vowed to strengthen its porous food and drug safety network. In May it sentenced the country's former food and drug watchdog chief to death on charges of taking bribes from drug companies and dereliction of duty.

REUTERS SLD ND0855