Chinese herbal medicines rose or engulfed the achievements of health reform

Business News May 30 hearing 537 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines in 2010 an average increase of 84% price increase of 109%

In 2011, 70% rose by more than 400% individually

"Simply, easily, empirically, and cheaply" has always been a pride of Chinese medicine, but now, Chinese herbal medicine prices have soared. "Lian Lian" has ceased to exist, and many people joked that it is "drug life." While accelerating the burden on patients, the continuous price hikes in Chinese herbal medicines have also hit hard on the various industries related to them, and various problems have been exposed. Some experts pointed out that if we continue to go on like this, the sustainable development of the Chinese medicine industry will face severe challenges and the fate of the future will be worrisome.

"Popular" transformed into "nobility"

Ms. Ge, who has thyroid disease, had been seen by an old Chinese doctor for more than two years. In the past, old Chinese doctors often emphasized that the recipes he had opened were some of the “affordable” medicines. Indeed, the amount of traditional Chinese medicine on a seven-day basis was only a few tens of yuan, but it gradually rose to more than one hundred and more than two hundred. This time, it was more than three hundred yuan. Ms. Ge asked the pharmacy staff: “Isn't the prescription adding more valuable medicine?” The answer is no. The price of each medicine contained in the recipe is almost always up, and the total price naturally rises. Taller.

Not only that, but the “civilian” medicines that were relatively cheap in the past are now almost all transformed into “nobility”.

Ms. Tian suffers from chronic pharyngitis and coughs each time. Miss Tian goes directly to the pharmacy to buy some traditional Chinese medicines such as Chuanbei Honeysuckle, Mangosteen, and Strawfish. Recently she came to Tongrentang pharmacy and wanted to buy some Chuanbei to cook pears. It was found that 1 gram of Chuanbei had already sold 7 yuan. If the calculation is based on a pear with 5 grams of Chuanbei, then it will be 35 yuan at a time and 350 yuan for 10 times. For Miss Tian of the salaried tribe, the cost is already somewhat unbearable. "If you go up like this, you can't even cure a cough."

Common Chinese herbal medicines lead the impact of large

In recent days, Codonopsis, Astragalus, Ophiopogon japonicus, and Hawthorn have led the new wave of price increases, which have more than doubled compared to the same period of last year. Different from the prices of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, the prices for this time are all “livelihood” Chinese herbal medicines.

According to reports, among the varieties of price hikes, Codonopsis pilosula and Radix Astragali have been widely used and used in large quantities. For example, Codonopsis, the price of Codonopsis was about 15 yuan per kilogram in May last year, and the current price is 55 yuan per kilogram, which is more than three times the same period last year; Ophiopogon japonicus also rose from about 50 yuan per kilogram in the same period last year to 100 yuan per kilogram. about. According to statistical data of Chinese herbal medicines, the price of Astragalus has risen by more than half in the past three months, and the price of hawthorn has risen from more than ten yuan per kg at the beginning of last year to the current price of 60 yuan, and its price once reached 80 yuan or 90 yuan.

The monitoring data of the Chinese Medicine Association shows that in 2010, 84% of 537 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines in the national market increased their prices, with an average increase of 109%, and 96 varieties with more than 100% increase. Since 2011, the situation is even less optimistic. In April of this year compared with April of last year, more than 70% of the 537 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines monitored rose in price, and individual varieties even rose by more than 400%. Zhang Wei, deputy director of the Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, pointed out that Chinese herbal medicines are now in the period of the fastest price increase in ten years.

According to Jiang Erguo, deputy director of the Chinese Medicine Information Center of the Chinese Medicine Association, Chinese herbal medicines prices will have some room for growth this year, and there is no downward trend in price in the near future. The Ministry of Commerce has also issued a forecast that the demand for Chinese herbal medicines will increase with the arrival of Chinese herbal medicine manufacturers and enterprises. The Chinese herbal medicine price index will still have room to rise.

May "engulf" the achievements of health reform

Although the price of Chinese herbal medicines has risen sharply, the province’s drug bids have still received good news of price reductions. Such a pattern that does not "match" people can give rise to some doubts. Why can these ultra-low-priced drugs be free from market factors?

It seems that the answer can be found in the drug quality announcement issued by the State Food and Drug Administration in the third quarter: Recently, many Chinese patent medicines were notified because of substandard quality in the sampling of essential drugs of the national and local food and drug administrations. The main reasons for the disqualification of proprietary Chinese medicines, such as powerful hemorrhoids and Xiaochaihu Granules, were due to jerry-building, and the content was not in conformity with regulations.

It is understood that China's proprietary Chinese medicines, especially those entering the basic drug list, must accept government pricing. Since we cannot raise prices, we have to “save” the content. In response, the State Food and Drug Administration recently issued a notice requiring all localities to carry out in-depth production and quality supervision and inspection of essential drugs.

With the continuous deepening of the reform of the medical system in China, the phenomenon of taking medicine to support medical care has disappeared, and the national basic drug system has been gradually established. It is believed that in the near future, the basic medical security system covering the entire people will be increasingly perfected, and the results of the medical reform will benefit millions of households. At the critical moment when all levels of government endeavor to solve common people's problems of “difficulty in seeing a doctor and expensive doctors”, these unscrupulous companies’ practices may “engulf” the results of medical reforms. If the relevant departments do not rush to take measures, if the long run goes by, people will see diseases that cannot be started, they cannot afford to eat drugs, or they can afford to eat medicines. However, the basic medical insurance system can only become an empty talk.

Urgently Strengthen the Regulation and Control of Chinese Medicinal Materials Industry

"It is necessary to run the horse, but we must not eat grass." Obviously, it cannot be sustained.

On the one hand, Chinese patent medicine manufacturers have complained about increasing costs, and some drug companies have said they have fallen into a crisis of survival. On the other hand, some people have criticized the lack of monitoring of the prices of Chinese herbal medicines by government functional departments. Enterprises have taken the opportunity to drive up prices, leading to high prices of Chinese medicines. In the end who is promoting Chinese medicine prices? Can the country set a guide price for Chinese herbal medicines?

"The difficulty in the price of Chinese herbal medicine lies in how this guidance price is set." Xiao Peigen, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and honorary director of the Institute of Medicinal Plants of China, made it clear that "the pricing standards need to have quality standards, but traditional Chinese medicines currently lack this, This is also the lifeblood that has always plagued the development of Chinese herbal medicines.” But investors believe that the investment value of Chinese herbal medicines is in the ascendant. This “no standard” is the best time for profit.

As for the price fluctuation of Chinese herbal medicines, the NPC deputy Xi Xijun suggested on this year’s “two sessions” that “a strategic reserve mechanism for the establishment of medicinal materials for Chinese herbal medicines of basic medicines shall be established by the State and reserves for the National Essential Drugs shall be organized by the reserve centers when necessary. The medicinal materials involved in the Catalogue are appropriately stored and stored, and the drastic fluctuations in prices of Chinese herbal medicines are suppressed. Through the role of local governments, regional medicines are stored hierarchically, and a national strategic reserve system for medicinal materials is gradually formed."

In addition, we should vigorously implement the national macroeconomic regulation and control of Chinese herbal medicine prices, formulate a scientific pricing system for medicinal herbs, and establish a regional Chinese herbal medicine alliance so as to form a cluster advantage and achieve the purpose of stabilizing the Chinese medicinal material market.