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Malaysia steps up anti-tobacco legislation
POLICY AND PEOPLE
Human-rights group calls on China to improve psychiatric standards Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. The Human Rights Watch report does acknowledge that most Chinese
Rights were not granted to include this image in electronic media. Please refer to the printed journal. AP
t next week’s world congress in Yokohama, Japan, the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) should “seriously and systematically address the issue of political psychiatric abuse in the People’s Republic of China”. This is the message from a report published earlier this month by the US-based non-governmental organisation, Human Rights Watch. The report, Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today and its Origins in the Mao Era, calls upon the constituent national bodies of WPA to vote on a formal resolution at the Aug 24–28 congress to allow a WPA-led international psychiatric investigation team to visit the country. The report also states that WPA should expel the Chinese Psychiatric Association “should the Chinese government fail to cooperate fully in the WPA’s attempts to investigate the alleged abuses or if the authorities then fail to adopt effective remedies” “The world medical community should speak out on this important issue. The Chinese psychiatrists who bravely refuse to participate in state repression need to feel they have support from abroad”, stated Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington director of
A
Activists face psychiatric detention
psychiatrists do not abuse their professional powers, but notes that all need to be vigilant that their practice is ethical. For example, members of the peaceful Falun Gong sect— a blend of Buddhist and Taoist teachings with traditional Chinese breathing exercises, known as Qi Gong—have routinely been detained on psychiatric grounds. The report notes that such detainees can be handles “unofficially” by the police authorities outside the forensic process and have been diverted to general psychiatric care. “General
psychiatrists who are called upon by police to diagnose such cases should decline to do so on the grounds that the requisite legal process for criminal psychiatric committal have not been observed”, states the report. Furthermore, notes the report, politics and psychiatry need to be separated formally in Chinese law. The Mental Health Law of the People’s Republic of China has been much delayed and must be formulated according to international standards and enacted, says Human Rights Watch. The WPA, UN, and WHO have all defined the minimum requirements of legislation to protect involuntary mental patients. Any Chinese law, according to Human Rights Watch, should “contain specific provisions stating unequivocally that deviation from, or inability to conform to, the country’s prevailing political or religious orthodoxies as upheld by the Chinese government and Communist Party does not provide a medically or legally acceptable basis for the diagnosis of mental illness, psychiatric custody, or involuntary treatment”. Sarah Ramsay
Malaysia steps up anti-tobacco legislation
News in brief
T
International health and trade examined On Aug 21 WHO and the World Trade Organization Secretariat published a joint study on the relation between trade rules and public health. The WTO Agreements and Public Health study explains how WTO Agreements relate to different aspects of health policies. The report aims to give a better insight into key issues for those policy makers involved in trade and health.
he Malaysian health minister said this week that tobacco advertising will be banned in Malaysia from next year. The health minister, Chua Jui Meng, told the official Bernama news agency on Aug 20 that “the Cabinet meeting held last week decided to ban all forms of promotions on cigarette brand names in Malaysia effective from 1 January next year”. Direct tobacco advertising has been banned in Malaysia for 9 years but tobacco firms have managed to exploit loopholes in the current regulations to sponsor sports events, such as the Malaysian formula one grand prix, and advertise indirectly to the general public. The implications of a ban on sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products in Malaysia’s formula one race and football matches and tournaments would require “further discussions”. Government officials have stated that the promotion of events by cigarette firms has contributed to
an increase in smokers, especially among young Malaysians. “At present, more than half of the adult men and over 3·5 out of 10 adult women in Malaysia are smokers”, said Chua said. Cigarette firms will spend US$26 million this year on indirect advertising campaigns. “There is no way that the Health Ministry and nongovernmental organisations can compete” with such advertising budgets. High profile, damaging lawsuits and stricter tobacco laws in the west have pushed tobacco firms to look for new markets in countries where regulations are less strict. However countries, such as Malaysia are starting to respond with “more specific” laws. British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco Industry, and Philip Morris have agreed to withdraw all forms of cigarette-related advertisements from the end of this year in Malaysia said the health minister.
UK doctors’ leaders offer advice on end of life decisions On Aug 21 The UK’s General Medical Council published guidance on good practice in making decisions about withholding and withdrawing life-prolonging treatment. David Hatch, chairman of the working group on the guidance, said the framework provides a “clear, but broad structure, within which doctors can work with their colleagues and patients, to agree the best way forward in individual cases”.
Haroon Ashraf
THE LANCET • Vol 360 • August 24, 2002 • www.thelancet.com
627
For personal use. Only reproduce with permission from The Lancet Publishing Group.
Human-rights group calls on China to improve psychiatric standards Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. The Human Rights Watch report does acknowledge that most Chinese
Rights were not granted to include this image in electronic media. Please refer to the printed journal. AP
t next week’s world congress in Yokohama, Japan, the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) should “seriously and systematically address the issue of political psychiatric abuse in the People’s Republic of China”. This is the message from a report published earlier this month by the US-based non-governmental organisation, Human Rights Watch. The report, Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today and its Origins in the Mao Era, calls upon the constituent national bodies of WPA to vote on a formal resolution at the Aug 24–28 congress to allow a WPA-led international psychiatric investigation team to visit the country. The report also states that WPA should expel the Chinese Psychiatric Association “should the Chinese government fail to cooperate fully in the WPA’s attempts to investigate the alleged abuses or if the authorities then fail to adopt effective remedies” “The world medical community should speak out on this important issue. The Chinese psychiatrists who bravely refuse to participate in state repression need to feel they have support from abroad”, stated Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington director of
A
Activists face psychiatric detention
psychiatrists do not abuse their professional powers, but notes that all need to be vigilant that their practice is ethical. For example, members of the peaceful Falun Gong sect— a blend of Buddhist and Taoist teachings with traditional Chinese breathing exercises, known as Qi Gong—have routinely been detained on psychiatric grounds. The report notes that such detainees can be handles “unofficially” by the police authorities outside the forensic process and have been diverted to general psychiatric care. “General
psychiatrists who are called upon by police to diagnose such cases should decline to do so on the grounds that the requisite legal process for criminal psychiatric committal have not been observed”, states the report. Furthermore, notes the report, politics and psychiatry need to be separated formally in Chinese law. The Mental Health Law of the People’s Republic of China has been much delayed and must be formulated according to international standards and enacted, says Human Rights Watch. The WPA, UN, and WHO have all defined the minimum requirements of legislation to protect involuntary mental patients. Any Chinese law, according to Human Rights Watch, should “contain specific provisions stating unequivocally that deviation from, or inability to conform to, the country’s prevailing political or religious orthodoxies as upheld by the Chinese government and Communist Party does not provide a medically or legally acceptable basis for the diagnosis of mental illness, psychiatric custody, or involuntary treatment”. Sarah Ramsay
Malaysia steps up anti-tobacco legislation
News in brief
T
International health and trade examined On Aug 21 WHO and the World Trade Organization Secretariat published a joint study on the relation between trade rules and public health. The WTO Agreements and Public Health study explains how WTO Agreements relate to different aspects of health policies. The report aims to give a better insight into key issues for those policy makers involved in trade and health.
he Malaysian health minister said this week that tobacco advertising will be banned in Malaysia from next year. The health minister, Chua Jui Meng, told the official Bernama news agency on Aug 20 that “the Cabinet meeting held last week decided to ban all forms of promotions on cigarette brand names in Malaysia effective from 1 January next year”. Direct tobacco advertising has been banned in Malaysia for 9 years but tobacco firms have managed to exploit loopholes in the current regulations to sponsor sports events, such as the Malaysian formula one grand prix, and advertise indirectly to the general public. The implications of a ban on sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products in Malaysia’s formula one race and football matches and tournaments would require “further discussions”. Government officials have stated that the promotion of events by cigarette firms has contributed to
an increase in smokers, especially among young Malaysians. “At present, more than half of the adult men and over 3·5 out of 10 adult women in Malaysia are smokers”, said Chua said. Cigarette firms will spend US$26 million this year on indirect advertising campaigns. “There is no way that the Health Ministry and nongovernmental organisations can compete” with such advertising budgets. High profile, damaging lawsuits and stricter tobacco laws in the west have pushed tobacco firms to look for new markets in countries where regulations are less strict. However countries, such as Malaysia are starting to respond with “more specific” laws. British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco Industry, and Philip Morris have agreed to withdraw all forms of cigarette-related advertisements from the end of this year in Malaysia said the health minister.
UK doctors’ leaders offer advice on end of life decisions On Aug 21 The UK’s General Medical Council published guidance on good practice in making decisions about withholding and withdrawing life-prolonging treatment. David Hatch, chairman of the working group on the guidance, said the framework provides a “clear, but broad structure, within which doctors can work with their colleagues and patients, to agree the best way forward in individual cases”.
Haroon Ashraf
THE LANCET • Vol 360 • August 24, 2002 • www.thelancet.com
627
For personal use. Only reproduce with permission from The Lancet Publishing Group.