Pharmacists work at a hospital in Enshi, Central China's Hubei province. [Photo/VCG] BEIJING - The government will allow inclusion of more medicines for serious diseases in the list of medical insurance reimbursement, following a successful attempt in 2018, said a senior health official Tuesday. The government will try to lower the prices of these medicines through negotiations with pharmaceutical firms, said Xiong Xianjun, a senior official with the National Healthcare Security Administration, at a press conference held in Beijing. Seventeen types of cancer medicines were included on China's medical insurance reimbursement list last year, with their payment standards 56.7 percent lower than their retail prices on average. By the end of last year, Chinese hospitals and pharmacies purchased 1.84 million doses of the cancer medicines at the lower prices reached by the government with suppliers, according to Xiong. They paid 562 million yuan (about $83.88 million) for the medicines, 918 million yuan less than if the medicines were sold at the retail price, he said. The medical insurance fund paid out 256 million yuan to the insurance policy takers for the cost of the medicines in 2018, he added. silicone wristbands vancouvercanadian wristbandsrubber bracelets canadacustom awareness wristbandsafrican rubber bracelets
A mother breastfeeds at a lactation room of a mall in Beijing, capital of China, July 24, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] A research center dedicated to epidemiology with a focus on the physiology of breastfeeding and the long-term health of mothers and children was established in Shanghai on Wednesday. The Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Shanghai Breastfeeding Research Center, the first of its kind in China, was co-founded by the Fudan and Tongji universities in Shanghai and the Family Larsson Rosenquist Foundation in Switzerland. This center will serve as a communications platform for scientists committed to breastfeeding as well as maternal and children health research, promoting multidisciplinary, comprehensive and international cooperation and exchanges, said Zheng Jialin, dean of the school of medicine at Tongji University. Associated with the Children's Hospital of Fudan University and the Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, the research center will host four endowed professorships with a focus on research related to epidemiology and lactation. Researchers will conduct studies that have the potential to generate significant global impact and work with other members of the FLRF breast milk research network from around the world. The foundation will endow a total of CHF 11 million ($11 million) to the new center and its professorships. We have found a fertile environment focused on excellence in basic research where, together with these leaders in science, we can advance the global epidemiological understanding of human lactation, said Goran Larsson, chairman of the board of Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation. Mother and childcare services have been greatly improved in China since the reform and opening up 41 years ago, said Wu Jinglei, director of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.
