China's govt apologizes for high drug prices

China's Vice Premier Wu Yi has apologized to delegates at the Fifth Session of the 10th National People's Congress, in Beijing, for the high cost of prescription drugs in the country, especially at a time when there are concerns over food and drug safety, the China Daily/Xinhua News Agency reports. The government believes that part of the problem is that over 85% of China's drug manufacturers are small companies with sales revenue of less than 100.0 million renminbi ($12.9 million) per year. Ms Wu reaffirmed previous statements that the government will provide more oversight of drugmakers (Marketletter March 5).

China's Health Minister, Gao Qiang, speaking the previous day at the Congress, explained that the government's strategy is to ensure that a "basic medicine system" would deal with complaints about the limited access to drugs to most Chinese people.

This would include a catalog of "necessary drugs" to be produced and distributed, under government supervision, to ensure access to patients and to prevent both manufacturers and retailers from circumventing existing price controls, Mr Gao told the Xinhua. The catalog could be based on 300-400 drugs recommended by the World Health Organization every year, a move which is all the more politically acceptable because its new Director General, Margaret Chan, is Chinese.