Tracking China's health reform

Guo, Yan; Shibuya, Kenji; Cheng, Gang; Rao, K Yadav; Li, Liming; Tang, Shenglan

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60397-2

Cited by 44 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…In theory, these changes should reduce inefficiencies in drug delivery [7]. However, governments have little information on supply, pricing, distribution, and the use of drugs to help them construct sound medicine pricing policies or evaluate their impact [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Access to Medicines: A Survey of Prices, Availability and Affordability in Shaanxi Province of China

et al. 2013

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ObjectiveTo measure the prices and availability of selected medicines in Shaanxi Province after the implementation of new healthcare reform in 2009.MethodsData on the prices and availability of 47 medicines were collected from 50 public and 36 private sector medicine outlets in six regions of Shaanxi Province, Western China using a standardized methodology developed by the World Health Organization and Health Action International from September to October 2010. Medicine prices were compared with international reference prices to obtain a median price ratio. Affordability was measured as the number of days’ wages required for the lowest-paid unskilled government worker to purchase standard treatments for common conditions.FindingsThe mean availabilities of originator brands and lowest-priced generics were 8.9% and 26.5% in the public sector, and 18.1% and 43.6% in the private sector, respectively. The public sector procured generics and originator brands at median price ratios of 0.75 and 8.49, respectively, while patients paid 0.97 and 10.16. Final patient prices for lowest-priced generics and originator brands in the private sector were about 1.53 and 8.36 times their international retail prices, respectively. Public sector vendors applied high markups of 30.4% to generics, and 19.6% to originator brands. In the private sector, originator brands cost 390.7% more, on average, than their generic equivalents. Generic medicines were priced 17.3% higher in the private sector than the public sector. The lowest-paid government worker would need 0.1 day’s wages to purchase captopril for lowest-priced generics from private sector, while 6.6 days’ wages for losartan. For originator brands, the costs rise to 1.2 days’ wages for salbutamol inhaler and 15.6 days’ wages for omeprazole.ConclusionsThe prices, availability and affordability of medicines in China should be improved to ensure equitable access to basic medical treatments, especially for the poor. This requires multi-faceted interventions, as well as the review and refocusing of policies, regulations and educational interventions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Access to Medicines: A Survey of Prices, Availability and Affordability in Shaanxi Province of China

et al. 2013

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“…In order to monitor the progress of the country's new health reforms, the Ministry of Health recently "announced the development of 19 indicators to track six components of the health reform: access, quality, cost, financial protection, patients' satisfaction, and health improvement" [14]. The Chinese government is committing itself to developing a reformed healthcare system, and they are tracking the 3-year plan's progress to ensure that it is successful.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

China’s New Healthcare Plan: Impressions of an American Medical Student

Cross¹

2010

AMJ

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“…Health care costs soared between 1980 and 2005, but the government's contribution increased at a much slower rate, so that the percentage of health expenditure covered by the government dropped from 36% to 18% (Ministry of Health 2006;Guo et al 2010).…”

Section: Identifying the Problems And Tracing The Causesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personnel reform in Chinese hospitals: policy interdependence and the challenge of coherent incrementalism

Pei

Legge

2013

China Journal of Social Work

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Health care in China is plagued with problems, including barriers to access, maldistribution of resources, inefficiencies and uneven quality. The management of human resources in the health care system has a significant effect on what happens in the clinic and the ward. The management of staff appointments and the remuneration system are two critical areas that remain problematic although they have received government attention. We argue that new approaches to policy development and implementation are needed to achieve a high-performance health care system. In particular, we suggest a new focus on the challenges of policy interdependence across sectors and among levels of administration. We highlight the need for a clear vision for health care, which would provide direction for the entire reform process, and also for a restructuring of the system of accountability.

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Tracking China's health reform

Cited by 44 publications

References 1 publication

Measuring Access to Medicines: A Survey of Prices, Availability and Affordability in Shaanxi Province of China

Measuring Access to Medicines: A Survey of Prices, Availability and Affordability in Shaanxi Province of China

China’s New Healthcare Plan: Impressions of an American Medical Student

Personnel reform in Chinese hospitals: policy interdependence and the challenge of coherent incrementalism

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