VIEWPOINT LEADER: Public will benefit from lifting ad ban

Lifting Hong Kong's decades-old ban on pharmaceutical advertising will admittedly benefit the advertising industry first of all. Let's face it, more than most, ad agencies and media owners desperately need a miracle cure. And it should preferably be one that can be administered immediately, if the latest adspend data is the prognosis to go by. The five per cent rise in advertising expenditure for the year to June hides more ills than the industry is willing to admit to. But more than the advertising industry, it's the Hong Kong public that ultimately stands to benefit from the lifting of the Undesirable Medicinal Act. The Act, which even prohibits advertising for products related to fungal diseases and baldness, has no place in modern Hong Kong. The internet and a thriving pharmaceutical advertising business across the border have reduced the act to nothing more than a quaint anachronism. As with most categories, the internet puts a wide range of information - largely unregulated - at consumers' fingertips. It's no different with pharmaceuticals. As such, the pharmaceutical category could potentially pose the greatest risk to consumers through the unregulated dissemination of information on the web. So, if consumer protection is the main reason why Hong Kong has kept the ad ban in place, the Government would be doing a better job by repealing the act and allowing companies to advertise. This way, the administration will be better placed to ensure that information is disseminated in a more responsible fashion - provided there are the necessary checks and balances in place, either at an industry or government level. Moreover, the lifting of the ban will provide pharmaceutical companies with an opportunity to educate and inform consumers - as much of the pharmaceutical advertising in the US does.

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