China's health reform cuts drug prices

     NANJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- At a time when almost every commodity in China is getting more expensive, the dwindling¹ cost of medicine is a rarity.

    Zhang Jinkui, a hypertension patient, buys medicines from the community health center of his neighborhood in Changzhou, a city in east China's coastal² Jiangsu Province.

    His prescription³ list includes Aspirin⁴ Enteric-coated tablets, down to 1.4 yuan from 4.7 yuan (0.7 U.S. dollars) per unit, and Fosinopril Sodium⁵ Tablets, down to 41.39 yuan from 51.6 yuan per unit.

    Both drugs are found on the essential drug list unveiled in 2009. The list names the 307 most common western and traditional Chinese medicines, which are heavily subsidized so hospitals can sell them at cost price.

    All essential medicines are listed by their generic⁶ names, and drug producers compete to supply essential medicines through public procurement⁷.

    Due to a long history of low government funding for state-run hospitals, which often covers only 10 percent of the hospitals' operating costs, doctors have generated income for hospitals by aggressively prescribing expensive, and sometimes unnecessary, medicines and treatments.

    The essential medicine system and the reform of publicly funded hospitals, two pillars of China's health reform, are designed to address high medical costs and low accessibility of medical services.

    In April 2009, China kicked off health reforms aimed at correcting these long-standing problems facing China's health system and easing public grievances⁹.

    Two years later, the essential medicine system has reduced drug prices, but still fails to please hospitals, patients and drug producers.

    The system requires government-funded grassroots health clinics, including urban community health centers and rural clinics, to prescribe only essential medicines and to sell these medicines at cost price, rather than with the previous 15 percent mark-up.

    Such policies have brought hard times to grassroots health clinics, especially in cash-strapped areas.

    Song Wenzhi, a public health professor at Peking University, said "Grassroots health clinics, without the expertise¹⁰ to perform operations and other treatments, rely heavily on selling drug," adding that these hospitals have found themselves scraping by due to the zero percent mark-up policy.

    Wang Zhiying, Vice⁸ Director of the People's Hospital of Anxiang County in the city of Changde, Hunan Province, said four grassroots hospitals in Changde tested the essential medicine system as pilot projects, but the zero percent mark-up policy took away 60 to 70 percent of the hospitals' revenue.

    Wang was quoted by "Health News," a newspaper run by China's Ministry¹¹ of Health, as saying that, due to financial difficulties, the county government had not yet channeled the 8 million yuan (1.2 million U.S.dollars) in support funds into the hospitals' accounts, resulting in the resignations of many doctors.

    The essential medicine system covers 60 percent of government-funded grassroots hospitals and drug prices have fallen by an average of 30 percent, said Sun Zhigang, Director of the Health Reform Office under the State Council, or China's Cabinet.

    According to the health reform plan for 2011, the essential medicine system will cover all government-sponsored health institutions at the grassroots level by the end of the year and drugs will be sold there at a zero percent mark-up.

    Song Wenzhi said the key will be the commitment of local governments to health reform and their financial input¹². This way, essential medicines can benefit the public without bankrupting grassroots health institutions.

    "That would be a great sum of money." said Song, citing his own studies. "There are roughly 5,000 government-funded hospitals in China. One third of them make profits, one third barely break even, and still one third rely heavily on government subsidies¹³."To maintain the poorest hospitals, central and local level governments would need to invest 15 billion yuan (2.3 billion U.S. dollars) each year, according to Song's estimate.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

2 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

3 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

4 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

5 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。

6 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

7 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

9 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

13 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》