Drugs containing pangolin ingredients must not be newly included in medical insurance coverage

Pangolin decoction pieces remain ineligible for medical insurance coverage and drugs containing pangolin ingredients must not be newly included in medical insurance coverage, according to a recent notice by three central departments in China to strengthen pangolin protection and management efforts and enhance their conservation. 

The notice, jointly released by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the National Medical Products Administration, was made public through the National Medical Products Administration's official WeChat account on Wednesday. 

The Chinese government attaches great importance to pangolin conservation. On June 3, 2020, all species of pangolins were elevated to the status of nationally protected wildlife. Pangolin scales are seen in traditional Chinese medicine to promote lactation and impotence.  

The notice calls for strengthening the National Forestry and Grassland Administration's pangolin protection and research center, establishing pangolin artificial breeding bases and germplasm resource banks, jointly tackling key technologies for pangolin artificial breeding, and achieving significant progress in building pangolin breeding populations. 

Research institutions, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies are encouraged and supported to jointly carry out research on substitutes for pangolin scales, the notice reads. 

China's efforts in protecting pangolins have been consistent. The newly-released documents highlight the Chinese government's intention to seek alternatives of pangolins in the use of medicine, Sun Quanhui, a scientist from the World Animal Protection organization, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

Whether for wild animal protection or industrial development, development of alternatives to pangolin scales is a rational choice, Sun said. He further said that scientific teams in China have been trialing synthetic alternative akin to pangolin scales, by precisely understanding the substances of pangolin. If their research goes well, we expect to see pangolin scale substitute in near future.

According to the notice, supervision will be strengthened to strictly regulate the use of pangolin scales in medicine. Following the principle of "conserving resources and being strict and prudent," strict oversight of pangolin scale use in medicine will be enforced, with efforts to minimize consumption.

The three administrations requested provincial-level forestry and grassland, traditional Chinese medicine, and medical products administration departments jointly conduct a survey on the utilization of pangolins to grasp the situation of pangolin artificial breeding institutions, pangolin scale inventories, and the use, purchase, and sale of pangolin scales by traditional Chinese medicine hospitals and pharmaceutical production enterprises in the past three years in their respective provinces. 

The annual consumption of pangolin scales will be strictly controlled, in principle, at around 1 ton, the notice reads. 

Provincial-level forestry and grassland departments are also requested to strengthen supervision and verification of legal holders of pangolin scales inventories in their provinces and update the inventory of pangolin scales based on administrative licensing in a timely manner. 

For provincial traditional Chinese medicine administration and medical products supervision departments, they should strictly supervise hospitals and pharmaceutical enterprises using pangolin scales within their jurisdictions. All units will seriously handle violations of laws and regulations in accordance with the law to resolutely stop the abuse of pangolin scales, the notice says. 

Pangolin scales and their products confiscated by law enforcement are restricted to non-commercial activities such as scientific research, judicial law enforcement, and public welfare promotion, according to the notice.

The use of pangolin scales and their products from other illegal or unknown sources is strictly prohibited, it states. 

The commercial import and export of pangolins and their products remain prohibited, the notice reads.