BEIJING: The National Healthcare Security Administration said this week that it will roll out more bulk procurement programs for drugs and medical consumables this year to lower the public’s financial burden.
An eighth round of centralized drug procurement will be launched this year, the administration said in a notice released on Wednesday evening. It said in an earlier document that the latest round will cover about 40 types of medications such as treatments for infections and drugs for cardiovascular diseases.
Since the administration was set up in 2018, it has been pushing forward the program where pharmaceutical companies participate in a bidding process and cut their prices to compete for permission to sell products via large-volume, government-led procurement.
“By the end of this year, each provincial-level region should have at least 450 types of drugs that have been involved in regional or national procurement programs, including 130 types involved in regional programs,” said the administration.
The variety of such drugs should cover chemical drugs, traditional Chinese medicine drugs and biological drugs, it added.
The administration will also expand the bulk buying of medical consumables, with a focus on products used for cardiology and orthopedics.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
