Choi Peng Cheong, president of the newly-established Pharmaceutical Administration Bureau (ISAF), has said that traditional Chinese medicine and Macau’s pharmaceutical field entering mainland China are among his most urgent responsibilities.
Choi holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou. His primary professional background is Western medicine with occasional experience related to Chinese medicine.
To fulfill the latter responsibility, the new official will work within his field to set out measures benefitting Macau in the course of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) construction.
Speaking on the sidelines of his inauguration yesterday, he stressed that, even before taking office, he was working in support of the local pharmaceutical circle entering mainland China. In the future, he will continue to focus on this.
“In the past year, we have provided support to put a locally manufactured pharmaceutical preparation for external use on sale in mainland China,” the official said. “The applications of several other products are now in review. That said, I believe there will [soon] be other locally made products to be sold in mainland China.”
He added that the ISAF’s main responsibility is to ensure the quality of pharmaceutical products made in or imported to Macau.
The official said that his department – before the establishment of the bureau – was in communication with the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Cooperation between Guangdong and Macao, with a special focus on product incubation. He hopes that ties will grow closer in the future.
The ISAF has authority over Chinese, Western and natural medications. Some Chinese herbal teas that can be used without a prescription – such as chrysanthemum tea and hemp seed tea – will be under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) as food products. Nonetheless, Choi stressed that the bureau has been and will continue to work closely with the IAM in the management of such products.
The newly inaugurated official also pledged to build a reliable team and nurture future professionals to ensure the sustainability of the pharmaceutical administration, especially in the sub-fields of drug vetting and approval, and law-enforcement.
The vice presidents of the ISAF, Ng Kuok Leong and Lei Sai Ian, were also inaugurated yesterday afternoon at the office in the Qingmao Border Checkpoint Building.
Ng has a Master of Medicinal Administration from the University of Macau and Master of Administration from Guangzhou’s Sun Yat-sen University. Lei has a Master of Public Administration from Peking University.
