Pharmaceutical child safety packaging refers to certain varieties of medicines for children and adults (such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular treatment drugs, hypertension treatment drugs, mental drugs, etc.), using a packaging form that is not easy for children to open or tear. Prevent children from taking it by mistake and avoid causing injury. Statistics from the China Medical Packaging Association show that more than 95% of the drugs in my country's drug market do not have the function of packaging children's drugs, and my country has not yet established independent standards and regulations for children's safe packaging.

At the Fifth “Voice· Responsibility” Symposium of Representatives of the National People’s Congress and CPPCC Committee Members of the Pharmaceutical Industry in 2013 jointly organized by 24 Chinese pharmaceutical industry associations (learning) such as China Pharmaceutical Enterprise Management Association, China Pharmaceutical Packaging Association It is proposed that legislation on the safe packaging of medicines for children should be introduced.

The association revealed that almost 95% of the drugs in the current drug market in my country do not have the function of children's drug packaging, and their safety tips are generally only reflected in simple text descriptions; in the safety design of the bottle mouth, there are only very few Health care drugs (such as vitamins, shark essence, etc.) and children's cough medicine products are available; blister-packed tablets and capsules do not have safe packaging. Some imported drug manufacturers also ignore the child safety packaging of drugs in order to reduce production costs.

Every year 30,000 to 50,000 children seek medical treatment due to drug poisoning

According to the existing domestic research data collected by the China Medical Packaging Association in 2011 and the data collected from hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai, it is roughly estimated that the number of children (under 15 years of age) who seek medical attention for drug poisoning in my country is about 3 to 50,000, which does not include the number of people who were poisoned but did not go to the hospital.

From the point of view of pharmacology and toxicology, because children's body development is immature, the metabolism of drugs in the body has its particularity and complexity, which makes some drugs unsuitable for children. However, the color, shape and sweet icing of some medicines is a great temptation for the ignorant children. Children who are curious and ignorant, open the medicine or poisonous substance package by themselves, and they will cause certain harm. May leave sequelae.

According to some data, it is estimated that about 2,000 to 3,000 children die each year due to drug poisoning, and there are about 3,000 to 4,000 children who have sequelae or become disabled due to drug poisoning. The annual cost of treating and treating these patients is about 200 million to 300 million.

40% of children have stolen drugs

According to data, after a doctor surveyed several parents of children aged 1-3, they found that 40% of the children had stolen drugs. In order to prevent children from opening safe drug packaging, European and American countries attach great importance to it. According to the World Health Organization and foreign documents, this issue was noticed in the 1970s. In 1974, legislation forced all oral drugs to adopt safe packaging that prevents children from opening. It has been implemented for twenty years.

The World Health Organization pointed out in the "Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention, World Health Organization (WHO) Action Plan 2006-2015" report that laws and other forms of regulations have proven to be one of the more powerful mechanisms for injury prevention. According to the World Health Organization and foreign documents, in countries where manufacturers of drugs and toxic substances are mandatory to provide child-resistant packaging, the number of children seeking medical care due to drug poisoning has dropped significantly.

According to the data of my country's sixth national census released at the end of April 2011, my country's population of 0-14 years old is 220 million, accounting for approximately 16.6% of the country's total population. According to the statistics of the All-China Women’s Federation in 2011, the number of left-behind children in the country is about 58 million, most of which are concentrated in the central and western provinces with large populations. Among them, there are more than 40 million left-behind children under the age of 14 and left-behind children account for 28.29% of all rural children, and more than 80%. The left-behind children are under the inter-generational supervision of grandparents and temporary supervision of relatives and friends. The guardianship responsibility is not fulfilled and the awareness of prevention is lacking, and left-behind children in rural areas are more likely to suffer accidental injuries.

According to the China Pharmaceutical Packaging Association, some parents now have certain preventive measures, such as putting medicines out of the children's reach, taking medicines improperly in front of their children to prevent imitation, etc., but these measures are not enough. Child-safe packaging of medicines is the fundamental way to reduce accidental swallowing of medicines by children.

"my country's medicines should adopt a legislative method, and it is mandatory to require medicine packaging to have a child protection function, which reflects the country's attention and protection of children's rights and interests. ”

According to the “Survey on Legislation Recommendations for Child Safety Packaging of Medicines” conducted by the State Food and Drug Administration in 2012, the technology and industry for the production and use of child safety protection devices in my country have been very mature, except for some European and American child safety packaging manufacturers that have established Many local companies in China already have the production capacity for child-safe packaging.

Therefore, the China Medical Packaging Association recommends that government departments should take the lead in launching the legislation for the safe packaging of medicines for children in my country as soon as possible, and introduce relevant supporting policies and measures to minimize the incidence of accidental ingestion of medicines by children in my country.