Public bidding for drug purchases to expand
14/4/2003 18:03
More medicines will be purchased through public bidding in hospitals
this year, according to a recent working conference in the public health
sector.
Since the start of the year, a first batch of widely used drugs
covered by the local medical insurance programs has been purchased in hospitals
through bidding, not door-to-door sales or other traditional methods.
The
new system has slashed the average price of these medicines by 10 percent,
saving patients more than 300 million yuan in medical costs
annually.
Local drug price administrators announced that from now on,
more medicine will be added to the bidding list to make a total of 4.4 billion
yuan in sales this year.
Medicines to be added to the list are mainly
antibiotics and those used for the heart and circulatory system.
A trial
bid for medical equipment is also under way.
Within the year, some
disposable medical equipment such as syringes will also be purchased through
public bidding on a trail basis.
Vice mayor, Yang Xiaodu, strongly
stressed the importance of the new system during the conference.
The
introduction of public bidding for the purchase of medicine in hospitals can
perfect the medicine market pricing mechanism and control prices, Yang
said.
He warned local hospitals and pharmaceutical dealers against any
violations or illegal practices in bidding.
Vicky Xu / Shanghai Daily news
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