VIEWPOINT LEADER: Public will benefit from lifting ad ban

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