The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) released a notice on the Vaccine Administration Law of the People's Republic of China on July 25, 2019, calling for study and implementation of various aspects of the law by relevant drug regulatory departments at all levels.

The notice consists of five parts, ranging from the requirement to understand the significance of the publicity and implementation of the law and its essence and basic content, to directions for improvement in construction of the supporting systems and regulatory capacity, as well as ways to better enforce the law. The notice also calls for drug regulatory departments at all levels to give priority to the publicity and implementation of the law.

According to the notice, the Vaccine Administration Law, as the first comprehensive vaccine regulation law in the world, fully embodies the importance that China attaches to vaccines.

All the relevant regulators should fully comprehend the significance of the publicity and implementation tasks and the essence of the law. It is necessary to formulate practical learning and training plans, grasp the key learning points, and adopt innovative methods of learning and promulgation.

To extend the influence of the law, drug regulatory departments need to make full use of multimedia platforms, including newspapers, radio, movies, television, the Internet and mobile phones, open special columns and invite contributions from experts and specialists.

It is also stated in the document that reform of the drug review and approval system, reinforced supervision and inspection and intensified construction of the vaccine supervision teams play a critical role in safeguarding people's health.

Drug regulatory departments at all levels should put publicity and implementation of the Vaccine Administration Law at the top of their agenda, and the NMPA will make the mission an important part of this year's drug supervision and inspection, said the notice.

The Vaccine Administration Law of the People's Republic of China was passed at the Eleventh Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on June 29, 2019 and will come into effect on Dec 1, 2019.