The presenters provided an excellent overview of China’s commitment and progress to make opioids more available for the relief of pain. The Director reviewed the international policy basis for the guidelines and presented each guideline with an explanation of the practical aspects of implementation. He also demonstrated how the narcotic control system is used to ensure availability of opioid analgesics for medical practice and patient care. In cooperation with Chinese officials and Mr. Yoshida, he led a group of regulators in a discussion about ways to improve opioid availability at the provincial level.

Following the Symposium, the Director of the Department of Drug Safety and Inspections of the State Drug Administration sent a letter stating:

"We began to implement the WHO analgesic method in China in the early 1990s... In recent few years, the situation of patients with cancer-pain in China has been improved greatly. The quantity of morphine consumption in 1999 was more than 10 times that of 1989. I am very glad to recall that Mr. David had visited China for several times during that period, taken part in symposiums and brought us new concept and information from the WHO and the good experience of U.S. and other countries. Hereby we would like to extend our thanks to you and your colleagues for what you have done for patients with cancer pain in China... We hope that our cooperation can be continued in the future."¹⁷