20世纪末以来,世界各国政府均面临医疗费用不断上涨的难题。以美国为例,2002年美国卫生总费用达到1．6万亿美元,人均医疗费用5440美元,卫生总费用占GDP的比重从1998年的13％上升到2002年的14．6％。国外研究表明,药品科技创新成本日益增大和新药价格不断攀升是医约费用不断增长的重要原因。 Since the end of the 20th century, governments of all countries in the world have been facing the problem of rising medical costs. In the United States, for example, the total health expenditure in the United States reached 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars in 2002, with a per capita medical expenditure of 5,440 U.S. dollars. The total health expenditure as a share of GDP increased from 13% in 1998 to 14.6% in 2002. Foreign studies show that the increasing cost of pharmaceutical technology innovation and the rising price of new drugs is an important reason for the continuous growth of medical fees.