Pharmacies app for city residents

The city’s drug watchdog has launched a “Shanghai Pharmacy” app which allows residents to check drugstore information, drug use and have expired medicine collected, a senior official said yesterday. 

The app includes details of 3,936 retail pharmacies in Shanghai and lets residents find the one nearest to them. 

Residents can find out where to buy the medicine they need by entering its name on the app, said Wen Daxiang, director of the Shanghai Drug Administration.

People can check instructions on how to use different medicines, and there are details of more than 2,400 registered pharmacists who can provide online consultations.

“Via the app’s intelligent supervision and management center, authorities are able to conduct online inspections of drugstores and check their service and operation situation in real time via video and radio,” said Wen.

Drugstores can also provide services such as delivery, chronic disease management and medical insurance, he added. People can have expired medicine collected by submitting details via the app.

The drug watchdog is also making revisions on decoction pieces of traditional Chinese medicine, and a new standard will be released in October to regulate the market, said Wen. 

“Shanghai is not traditionally the production base of TCM, but the city has a huge consumption market and we are continuously enhancing the quality management of TCM decoction pieces,” said Wen. “The new standard significantly increases safety indexes, and introduces new technologies and means to control the quality of TCM decoction pieces.” 

Shanghai authorities have also been implementing 32 measures aimed at encouraging the renovation of medicine and medical apparatus and instruments, said Wen. These include the acceleration of clinical tests and improving the review and approval system, he said. 

Under the city’s one-stop online service platform, on-the-spot material submission and approval has been put into place to cut red tape and improve efficiency. 

It will accelerate the process of getting new medicine and medical apparatus and instruments to the market, said Wen. 

“We give priority approval for some drugs and medical apparatus and instruments that have obvious clinical advantages or are innovative,” said Wen. “They will be included in a green channel and enjoy priority in review and approval.”

The bureau is also stepping up inspections of generic drug manufacturers, the quality of generic drug raw materials and purchase records. 

It is also applying for a trial involving the application of new anti-tumor drugs which have hit overseas markets but are not sold in China, according to Wen.

If the application is approved, patients in the city will not need to wait for the long clinical test and approval period.

Shanghai’s drug authorities will make a series of assessments including clinical demand and work out detailed management rules to win authorization, said Wen.