China News Service, Beijing, April 30 (Reporter) — From multiple hospital presidents being investigated to the downfall of numerous officials in the medical and health system, including those in health administration, drug regulation, and medical insurance, the topic of anti-corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector has attracted considerable attention over the past month. Experts note that as reform of the pharmaceutical and healthcare system deepens, anti-corruption efforts in the sector will become routine, with oversight focusing more sharply on key departments and key positions.

　　　Multiple officials in the pharmaceutical and healthcare system fall from power

　　Last week, news that two consecutive directors of the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission were placed under investigation in succession drew public attention.

　　On the morning of April 26, the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Provincial Supervisory Commission disclosed that Duan Yufei, former Party Secretary and Director of the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Provincial Supervisory Commission.

　　Public records show that Duan Yufei stepped down from the posts of Director and Party Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission in September 2021. After Duan Yufei left office, his successor Zhu Hong also, in November last year, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, voluntarily turned himself in, and underwent disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Provincial Supervisory Commission.

　　Not only in Guangdong: in recent months, multiple officials holding key posts within the pharmaceutical and healthcare system—including in health commissions, medical insurance, and drug regulation—have fallen from power. Recently, ** Financial reported that, according to incomplete statistics, at least 30 people in the pharmaceutical and healthcare field have been investigated since the beginning of this year, of whom 18 are officials in the medical and health system, accounting for more than half; 12 involve the hospital sector.

　　In addition to the pharmaceutical and healthcare system, multiple people at medical universities have also fallen from power. In April this year, China Discipline Inspection and Supervision News published an article naming hospitals affiliated with universities under central management, requiring discipline inspection and supervision bodies at universities to deeply understand the importance and urgency of carrying out the concentrated rectification of corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare field, to urge the "top leaders" to fulfill their responsibilities as ** responsible persons, and to keep a close watch on leading cadres and other "key minorities" as well as key positions such as drug consumables, equipment procurement, laboratory testing, and administrative logistics.

　　In the view of healthcare reform expert Xu Yucai, anti-corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector further demonstrates the important feature of covering the entire chain and all areas. "Anti-corruption efforts in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector mostly target officials within the field, which in fact reaches more deeply into senior managers who can formulate rules and policies, forming a comprehensive anti-corruption network extending from grassroots implementation to top-level decision-making."

　　Xu Yucai told China News Health that serious corruption exists throughout the entire chain of transactions in the market for drugs, consumables, and medical equipment, mainly manifested in key decision-makers using their power to intervene in market competition, influence price setting, and profit from it. This reflects loopholes in oversight mechanisms and insufficient supervision of power, making it urgent to strengthen institutional development and improve the oversight system to safeguard fair market competition and the public's health rights and interests.

　　Large-scale hospital inspections launched in 10 provinces

　　In early July last year, the National Health Commission, together with nine departments, jointly issued a document focusing on the prominent problems of corruption in the current pharmaceutical and healthcare field and on the key links in the entire chain of pharmaceutical procurement and sales and medical services that are prone to problems.

　　This anti-corruption storm in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, dubbed by the industry as the "strongest in history," is unprecedented in depth, breadth, and intensity, and has brought profound impacts on the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Previously, images of some medical institutions posting signs reading "Pharmaceutical representatives not allowed entry" sparked widespread discussion among netizens. At the same time, news that multiple hospital presidents and department directors were placed under investigation also drew public attention.

　　In December last year, the fifth round of nationwide large-scale hospital inspections was launched. According to incomplete statistics, at least 10 provinces have so far made specific arrangements for inspections of local hospitals.

　　Among these, corruption is one of the focal points of successive large-scale hospital inspections. For example, a plan recently issued by the Gansu Health Commission listed multiple acts violating hospital integrity, such as "commercial kickbacks," "insurance fraud," and "accepting red envelopes," as key inspection targets, and specifically mentioned whether a monitoring, early-warning system and oversight mechanism have been established and improved covering key positions, key personnel, key medical behaviors, important drugs and consumables, large medical equipment, infrastructure construction, and large-scale renovation projects and other key nodes.

　Anti-corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector moves toward routinization

　　Not long ago, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission published an article stating that improving conduct, enforcing discipline, and fighting corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare field are always ongoing. It made clear that it is necessary to avoid being strict at the beginning and lax later, or strict at times and lax at others; to strengthen supervision over the implementation of work and control over the pace of progress; to promptly correct deviations in understanding policy and inadequate implementation measures; and to seriously hold accountable those who defy orders, cut corners, or resort to subterfuge, ensuring that supervision carries force and produces results.

　　Many industry insiders analyze that, alongside anti-corruption efforts in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, how to reshape the understanding of all practitioners along the industry chain regarding the distribution of interests is the problem that the industry urgently needs to solve.

　　"A storm-style anti-corruption campaign in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector can have a strong deterrent effect in the short term, but it is difficult to achieve lasting and sustained results," Xu Yucai pointed out. Anti-corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector cannot rely only on periodic crackdowns and deterrence; more importantly, it is necessary to build a complete set of institutions and mechanisms to prevent corruption. This means that future anti-corruption work should be routine, focus on improving institutions and optimizing mechanisms, and fundamentally reduce the possibility of corruption through measures such as salary system reform and strengthening legal consequences.

　　He believes that completely eliminating corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector is a daunting task, but by establishing a more complete oversight system and increasing penalties, thereby guiding people to be unwilling and afraid to engage in corrupt behavior and gradually eliminating the soil in which corruption occurs, this should become an industry consensus.