Drugstores in Beijing have returned to normal and are providing
adequate supplies of materials to prevent
SARS,
following a spate of panic buying resulting from the outbreak.
Two weeks ago, drugstores throughout the capital were crowded with
people buying face masks, disinfectant and Chinese medicine that is
thought to be effective in preventing SARS.
"In mid-April, it was normal to see over 100 customers queuing in
front of my shop every morning before we started business,"
recalled Wang Mingren, vice-manager of the Baitasi Medicine
Store.
But Beijing residents are now finding it much easier to cope with
the outbreak, with the number of new cases dropping on a daily
basis and as a result of the effective preventative measures which
have been adopted.
As
a result, the customer flow at Wang's pharmacy is now nearly equal
to the figure of the same period last year.
Although it was a boom time for drug stores last month, the
situation is not that simple.
Prestigious traditional Chinese medicine store, the Beijing-based
Tongrentang sold 2 million sets of Chinese herbal medicine from
April 10 to April 26.
Containing eight herbs, the recipe was recommended by experts last
month to help prevent SARS. But this medicine is not being produced
any more as a result of falling demand.
The listed Tongrentang Stock Company issued a notice last week
saying that the sales of SARS preventive medicines have had "no
significant impact" on the production and operating of the
company.
Jin Yongnian, Tongrentang's office director told China Daily that
they will lose 1 yuan (12 cents) when selling one bottle of
medicine made from the recipe.
"The reason is that the aggregate cost increased a lot, but the
municipal government set a ceiling on prices of the medicines," Jin
said.
"Price of traditional medicine materials soared that time, by four
times to even 10 times to the normal figure," he said.
Jin admitted that the total profits of Tongrentang increased last
month, but did not give the figures.
(China Daily May 19, 2003)