Cost of drugs eases; patients shift toward community clinics for care

A move to scrap drug price markups has shown early signs of success in optimizing medical resources - particularly the work of specialists - and in lowering the costs of medicine for most patients, according to the Beijing health authority.

As part of the general healthcare reform, measures introduced on April 8 aimed at ending the markup on drugs prescribed at public hospitals and modifying the prices for registration, consultation and treatments.