ON TUESDAY, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced that after its negotiations with the manufacturers of 44 pharmaceutical drugs, the prices of 36 of them had been cut and put into the list covered by the medical insurance fund. Xkb.com.cn comments:

The 36 drugs share two points in common: First, they were so expensive that ordinary patients could hardly afford them; second, they are necessary for certain illnesses and there is no substitute for them. For example, half of the 36 drugs are used to treat six types of cancer, including breast, lung and liver cancer.

There have long been calls for these expensive drugs to be covered by the national medical insurance fund. However, their previously high prices made it impossible for the fund to cover them.