A Note on Medical Advertising
All medical advertisements shall conform to the laws of Hong Kong, including but not limited to the Undesirable Medical Advertisement Ordinance (Cap. 231), the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap. 138) and the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Cap.549). And the advertising of medical preparations and treatments is governed by the rules as prescribed in Paragraphs 7-20, Chapter 6 (Specific Categories of Advertisement) of the Generic Code of Practice on Television Advertising Standards.
With the introduction of the amended schedules of Undesirable Medical Advertisement Ordinance (Cap.231) on 20th January 2006, a lists of examples of prohibited and allowable words and phrases are shown with the purpose to provide useful guidance to the advertisers for any reference of specific class of disease and symptoms in the advertisement.
The amendments related to the Schedules 1 and 2 have been implemented since 2006. The remaining provisions of the Amendment Ordinance will be commenced on 1st June 2012. The Commencement Notice was published in gazette on 13th January 2012.
For more details about the UMAO and other regulatory measures, please refer to the website of the Drug Office of Department of Health for the following documents:
* Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance (Cap. 231).
* Undesirable Medical Advertisements (Amendment) Ordinance 2005
* Guidelines on Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance (Cap. 231)
* Guidelines on the Undesirable Medical Advertisements (Amendment) Ordinance 2005