BEIJING — A new trial program on centralized medicine procurement and use has reduced the financial burdens of patients, according to a senior official with the National Healthcare Security Administration.

The agency’s deputy head Chen Jinfu told a news conference on April 16 that the trial program in 11 cities had brought better-than-expected results in general, and patients with major diseases such as cancer, hepatitis B, hypertension and mental illness had access to high quality medicines and low prices.

The program, updated from a preview version, was launched on April 1 and more than 438 million pills or doses of drugs had been procured within two weeks.

“The quality and supply of the selected drugs were reliable and the quantity of prescriptions was also better than expected,” Chen said.

In the previous trial in 2018, an average price reduction of 52 percent was seen in 25 selected medicines.