The State Food and Drug Administration has announced plans to install supervisors in pharmaceutical plants involved in producing plasma products and vaccines.

"The move is to ensure qualified drug production and prevent an outbreak of major drug-related accidents," said Shao Mingli, head of the administration.

"The drug safety problems exist in every phase; from research and development to production, circulation and clinical use," Shao admitted. "Problems with fake and poor-quality drugs are not being well addressed in some regions."

Chinese consumers' confidence in the country's drugs industry hit a record low last year after several substandard drugs caused several fatalities.

Last year, 11 people died and hundreds suffered from severe side-effects after receiving an injection of Xinfu. Investigations later found that the drug was not properly sterilized in the production process.

Shao said supervisors dispatched to the drug plants were required to spot hidden problems with the production.

According to the administration, it also plans to intensify a crackdown on false drug advertisements this year and improve the response mechanism for drug-related accidents.

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2007)