Deputies at the recent 12th National People's Congress (NPC), in Beijing, have said that the system of bidding on and procurement of new drugs needs more centralized controls because it has proven effective for drug quality and pricing.

And, emphasizing "the lowest price" in the bidding process may make it difficult to get some drugs because cheaper drugs may be less effective and may not popular with medical institutions or doctors even though they won the bid.

Zheng Kuicheng, an NPC deputy and vice-director of Fujian province's Disease Prevention and Control Center, explained, "China should add more drugs to its Essential Drug List and set specific prices, amounts, and distribution methods for commonly used, lower-priced medicines. And let the cost be covered by insurance."

Zheng wnet on to say that centralized provincial purchasing can be applied for medicines in competition and national, bulk purchasing for non-competitive drugs.

By Lai Yanxiang from China Daily Fujian Bureau, and Zhao Qian

Edited by Roger Bradshaw