Application of Plastic and Rubber in the Medical Industry

Application of Plastic and Rubber in the Medical Industry
By: He Qinsheng

As an important part in the national economy in China, the medical industry mainly includes chemical pharmacy, medical equipment, medical packaging, pharmaceutical machinery, biochemistry, Chinese patent drug industry and medical commerce. The medical industry has witnessed a rapid and steady growth in recent years.

Current Situation
Modern medical industry hardly existed in China in 1949. China then had only some traditional Chinese herbal medicinal, manually-operated medical workshops, few foreign and privately owned small-scale drug, medical apparatus and sanitary material manufacturing plants.

Since the initiation of the reform and opening up policy, the medical industry has undergone a dramatic and eventful growth from small to large both in size and number. In late 1999, the medical industry in China had 1.64 million employees, RMB 110.5 billion fixed assets in original value and RMB 178.2 billion current assets; 6391 medical manufacturing enterprises with more than 1300 varieties of crude chemical medical materials, 400,000 tons in total output, more than 4000 varieties and specifications of preparations and some 8000 varieties and specifications of Chinese patent drugs with the output of approximately 337,000 tons; nearly 16000 medicine wholesale enterprises and 60000 retail enterprises. The import and export value of medical products reached RMB 5.6 billion, including USD 3.4 billion export value.

China used to have a weak foundation in chemical pharmaceutical industry. Since the initiation of the reform and opening up policy, the chemical pharmaceutical industry has taken a lead in utilizing foreign investment to establish Sino-foreign joint venture industrial enterprises. Currently, the output of chemical crude medicinal in China ranks second in the world.

The development of medical mechanic industry has coincided with that of the medical industry since the foundation of the People's Republic of China. At present, China has over 350 medical mechanic enterprises and institutions that can manufacture 8 categories and some 1200 types and specifications of pharmaceutical machinery (machinery and equipment for crude material medicine, preparation, medical-purpose mill, herbal medicinal machinery, medical-purpose water supply equipment, packaging machinery, medicine-testing equipment and other pharmaceutical machinery and equipment).

Now China ranks No.1 in the number of medical machinery manufacturing enterprises, varieties and specifications of products, and output. This not only supplies set single-unit equipment, auxiliary parts and components for some 6000 traditional Chinese medicinal and western medicine pharmacies and thousands of health product enterprises but also export these equipments to tens of countries and regions such as the United States, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Pakistan and Hong Kong.

Through 50 years' growth, the traditional Chinese medicinal industry has become a structural system based on Chinese medicinal crop production, backed up by Chinese patent drug industry and channeled by traditional Chinese medicinal business, which makes this traditional industry a new-rising industry with a large quantity of new materials, new equipment, new technologies and new processes in application. A Chinese patent drug industrial system has taken shape that is composed of large, medium and small enterprises and backbone enterprises distributed in every province and region.

The development of the medical equipment in our country features low starting-point and high-speed growth. Now the medical equipment manufacturing enterprises can produce over 5000 varieties and have introduced to the market a large number of hi-tech products. The traditional export pattern of labor-intensive sanitary materials and general surgery implements has been replaced by a new export pattern of electromechanical integrated equipment. Now China is exporting medical equipment to over 40 countries and regions and gained competitive power in the international market.

Bioengineering drug, which represents the latest technical findings in the global medical community, has experienced a rapid growth in our country. Of the tens of bioengineering drugs commercially available in the international market, China can produce about 20 with the annual output value of some RMB 3 billion, including hepatitis B antibody genetically engineered vaccine, genetically engineered artificial insulin, interferon, colony stimulating factor, interleukin, erythrogenin, etc.
The year 1999 witnessed a steady growth in the production and operation of the medical industry. The whole industry realized the profit of RMB 10.48 billion, including RMB 9.78 billion from industrial profit, a 26% increase over the previous year. In 2000, the chemical industry will sustain a 2-digit growth rate with the profit growth rate estimated at 11%. As forecast, the demand for medicine in China will experience an annual growth rate of 12% in the 10th 5-year plan period. The demand for medicine this year in China is RMB 124 billion and the figure will be RMB 218 billion in 2005.
China still has a low medicine consumption level. The total medicine (including Chinese and western prepared medicine) consumption in 1998 was around RMB 100 billion with the per capita consumption of about RMB80, RMB234.35 for urban residents and RMB9.49 for the rural population. Based on the per capita medicine consumption of RMB80, the total consumption in the country will reach RMB 103 billion. With the growth in population, the year 2005 will have a net increase of RMB 8 billion. During the 10th 5-year plan period, the national economy in China will sustain a growth rate of 8% and the living standard of the urban and rural population will go up proportionally and as a result, the investment for health will go up too. Based on estimation, the per capita medicine consumption for urban and rural residents will undergo a growth of 47% with a total increase of RMB 66 billion in consumption amount in 2005 and the medicine consumption for the rural population in 2005 will experience a 100% growth and RMB 11 billion growth in total consumption amount compared with that in the 9th 5-year plan period. As a result, the total consumption in the country in 2005 will amount to RMB 180 billion.

Application of Plastic and Rubber in the Medical Industry
Plastic and rubber feature abundance in sources and large variety in performance and specifications, which result in their extensive application in the medical industry. This application mainly covers three aspects such as in medicament, therapy and medical equipment.