102 CMs in China’s Essential Drugs List
World Health Organisation (WHO) published the first WHO Model List of Essential Drugs in 1977. Essential medicines are those that satisfy priority health care needs of the population. They are selected with due regard to public health relevance, evidence on efficacy and safety, and comparative cost-effectiveness (WHO: Definition of essential medicines). Moreover, essential medicines should be clinically indispensable, safe and effective, convenient to apply and affordable. Currently, more than 170 countries have developed their national essential medicines lists.
China's Ministry of Health (MoH) on 18 August 2009 issued a list of 307 essential drugs as part of its plan to create an essential medicine system in the coming 10 years. The list consists of both western medicines and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A total of 102 TCMs are listed and categorized according to their functions. The list will be effective from 21 September 2009. It is expected that TCM will take up a bigger share in the drug list for medical and health facilities which will be announced later.
TCMs are listed by their generic names and classified into Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Orthopaedics & Traumatology. Dosage forms include granule, capsule, paste, pill, tablet, powder, drink and liquid injection etc. The full list of TCM essential drugs is availabe at MoH website: (Chinese only)
www.moh.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/cmsresources/mohywzc/cmsrsdocument/doc5889.doc
Species of TCM decocting pieces are not specified in the list. Instead, reference should be drawn from The Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China and relevant standards published by MoH and State Food and Drug Administration. Moreover, the management of the TCM decocting pieces should be according to the statutory policy on pricing, procurement, distribution, prescription and health insurance coverage stipulated by the respective government authorities.
To facilitate the implementation of the new system, MoH will further publish in October a set of supplementary circulars including clinical guidelines and prescription lists. According to theessential medicine system, 6 types of medicines are excluded, namely drugs containing endangered plants/animals; products for health maintenance prone for abused use; drugs of low priority for clinical uses; drugs banned for causing serious adverse reactions; drugs in violation of national laws and regulations and non-ethical drugs. The essential medicine list will be updated every three years with respect to the changes of health demands. Drugs will be removed from the list when (1) product standards have been repealed; (2) product approvals have been revoked; (3) serious adverse drug reactions have been reported; and (4) products with more favourable benefit to risk ratio and cost effectiveness have been identified. The prices of listed drugs will be set by the government with zero cost added.
Building an essential drug system is a vital part of medical reform. It will promulgate universal access to essential health care for everyone in China and finally help reduce medical costs which have aroused criticism for quite some time.
Sources：
World Health Organisation www.who.int
Ministry of Health, PRC www.moh.gov.cn
State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine www.satcm.gov.cn
People’s Daily Online english.peopledaily.com.cn |
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