Global EditionASIA 中文双语Français
Lifestyle
Home / Lifestyle / Health

China speeds up price reduction on cancer drugs

Xinhua | Updated: 2018-07-02 14:39
Share
Share - WeChat
China has exempted all cancer drugs from import tariffs since May 1, as a move to further open the market to boost their accessibility.[Photo/VCG]

In a bid to reduce the price of cancer drugs, China has included 15 more clinically effective yet expensive cancer medicines into its list of medical insurance reimbursement, according to China's state medical insurance administration.

The list currently covers a majority of the most frequently used and clinically effective cancer drugs, the administration said.

China has exempted all cancer drugs from import tariffs since May 1, as a move to further open the market to boost their accessibility.

However, since drug inventory imported before May 1 has not been affected by the new tariff policy, prices of imported cancer drugs have not experienced a substantial decline in the short term.

The administration said it will cut the price of cancer drugs on the list via public bidding and procurement.

Medical insurance institutions will negotiate with pharmaceutical enterprises to add cancer drugs into the system that are currently not on the list.

Since 2016, the government has reached agreements with pharmaceutical companies on the prices of 39 drugs -- including 17 cancer medicines -- on the medical insurance list, with drug prices marked down by over 50 percent on average.

Most Popular
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US