Drug prices negotiated downward

The prices of 36 expensive drugs - half of them for cancer treatment - are now covered by medical insurance, after the authorities negotiated substantial price reductions.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security negotiated with pharmaceutical manufacturers on 44 drugs and managed to cut prices of 36 of them to be acceptable for coverage by the medical insurance fund, Xu Yanjun, a fund management official at the ministry, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Compared with retail prices last year, prices of these drugs have decreased by 44 percent on average, he said. Five of the drugs are traditional Chinese medicines and 22 are imported Western medicines.