A good first step

If it works, it should make everyone feel a little better about healthcare - and make healthcare a little more accessible to more people. Patients will no longer have to shell out the 7 to 15 percent extra fees that State-owned hospitals charge on medicines. The Health Ministry's announcement last week is a welcome first step in China's long-delayed healthcare reform.

The new policy, to be adopted on trial basis, is intended to stop hospitals from relying too much on income from medicines. It is estimated that income from the sale of medicines makes up 50 percent of a hospital's revenue on an average.

But the catch is that a doctor's income too is closely tied to the hospital's earnings from medicine sales. No wonder it is common for doctors to prescribe expensive drugs while cheaper drugs can work just as well or possibly even better.