Suspicious Youth Therapies in Switzerland: the Offer does not Dry Up in China
by swisscham in Business
Last March, Swissmedic, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP) and the cantons have jointly launched lawsuits against several entities suspected to propose anti-aging therapies based on animal cells subjected to very strict permissions. They have never been approved, yet each year attract many Chinese tourists on the shores of Lake Leman. However, despite the call to order of the Swiss authorities, their promotion continues on the Chinese web. Indeed, there has still dozens of websites and dozens of agencies that offer the “Yang Tai Su” – a cure based on fetal sheep cells. It is for this particular treatment that Swiss clinics are renowned in China and it is a big market. Dr. Li Jun, Chief Physician at the Department cosmetic surgery of the Hospital of Nanjing, is convinced that these agencies will continue offering these suspicious therapies. “They expect that this period of turmoil going on, and they will continue as before. The market is huge,” he says. Besides, on its website, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce warns the population against these treatments using sheep cells available in Switzerland.