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 27/06/2009
[Other]
China Restricts Residents Access to Health Care Web Sites
China Ministry of Health published a new set of regulations that limit access to online medical information, particularly sites that discuss sexual health, the Wall Street Journal China Journal reports.
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China Restricts Residents Access to Health Care Web Sites
On Tuesday, China Ministry of Health published a new set of regulations that limit access to online medical information, particularly sites that discuss sexual health, the Wall Street Journal China Journal reports.
The restrictions are slated to go into effect July 1.
The guidelines state that all health-related Web sites must:
* Contain scientific and accurate information;
* Disallow medical advertising without official consent;
* Employ two staff members with expertise in Chinese health laws;
* Receive a license from provincial-level authorities; and
* Renew government approval every two years.
In addition, sites that provide research on sexual issues must:
* Be closed to the general public;
* Employ at least one qualified physician;
* Limit access to professionals in related research and clinical work; and
* Receive content approval from a medical expert (Canaves, China Journal, Wall Street Journal, 6/26).
Groups or individuals who violate the regulations could face up to $4,400 in penalties and criminal prosecution for repeat offenses (Bradsher, New York Times, 6/26).
Context of Regulations
The Ministry of Health says the rules are designed to cut down on inaccurate and fraudulent medical Web sites, which have multiplied in recent years. In addition, observers say the restrictions on sexual health information stem from concerns that such sites could be used to mask pornographic content (China Journal, Wall Street Journal, 6/26). Deng Haihua, head of the ministry information office, said the rules would strengthen the government\'s management and supervision of sex health Web sites in the country to guarantee scientific and accurate information and prevent lewd content in disguise (Chan, Wall Street Journal, 6/26). Chinas increased scrutiny of medical Web sites comes amid the country plan to require the installation of Web filtering software on all computers sold in China by July 1 (Wang, Health Blog, Wall Street Journal, 6/26). On Wednesday, the Obama administration sent letters to two Chinese ministries asking them to reconsider the mandate (Wall Street Journal, 6/26). |
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