Essential medicines are medicines that are included in the national catalog of essential medicines, which helps to standardize the rational use of medicines in the clinic as well as to ensure the normal implementation of health insurance policies.
The specific meaning of basic medicines refers to medicines that can meet basic healthcare needs, have appropriate dosage forms, guarantee supply, can be equipped at the grassroots level, and are equitably accessible to nationals, and within the scope of drug sales generally refers to medicines that are included in the national basic medicines catalog.
The current catalog of basic medicines used is the National Basic Medicines Catalog issued in 2018, which contains 685 types of medicines, including 417 types of western medicines and 268 types of proprietary Chinese medicines, better adapting to the requirements of healthcare and meeting the needs of the people for disease prevention and treatment.
China’s basic drug system can not only protect people’s health, standardize the rational use of medicines, promote health insurance reform, guide drug research and development can also optimize and integrate market resources, the rapid development of a new pharmaceutical environment.