In line with a notification issued by the National Health Commission (NHC) in January, provincial governments across China have begun implementing the second batch of drugs under the National Drug Use Monitoring policy. These governments are customizing their drug lists to address local misuse of medicines. On April 3, 2023, Qinghai’s provincial Health Commission bureau became the 15th province/region to unveil details of its local drug monitoring program, aimed at promoting rational drug use among hospitals and doctors by monitoring over-used medicines and impacting performance ratings when excessive use of listed products is identified.
Evolution of the National Drug Use Monitoring List
The NHC initially released a National Drug Use Monitoring list containing only 5 drugs in 2019, which expanded to include 30 drugs in the January 2023 list. While 8 provinces, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Tibet, directly implemented the most recent national list without modifications, 7 provinces issued lists with additional supplementary products. Jilin made the most significant changes, adding 18 more products to the NHC’s list.
Impact on Volume-Based Procurement (VBP) Program
The inclusion of a product on the National Drug Use Monitoring list also influences its potential in the volume-based procurement (VBP) program. Guidelines released in July 2022 state that the total volumes awarded to VBP bid winners should consider the drug’s status in relation to the NHC’s Drug Use Monitoring program. The NHC released this year’s second monitoring batch on January 13, coinciding with the day hospitals were asked to begin reporting volumes for the VBP program. The second batch of key monitoring drugs includes three drugs that were part of the 8th VBP round: cefoperazone sulbactam, piperacillin tazobactam, and cefotaxime. This is not the first crossover between the VBP program and key monitoring lists, as edaravone was included in the first national key drug monitoring batch and later in the seventh VBP round.-Fineline Info & Tech
