Briefly

Raising the bar: Hand-hygiene compliance, and policies on dangerous abbreviations, heparin safety, narcotic safety, suicide prevention and pressure ulcer prevention have been added to Accreditation Canada's list of required organizational practices (www.accreditation-canada.ca) if hospitals, nursing homes and other health facilities are to obtain a stamp of approval from the national, nonprofit, independent organization.

FDA inspections: The United States Food and Drug Administration's monitoring of foreign drug manufacturing plants is lax and inadequate, the highly respected US Government Accountability Office says in a report on the FDA's Foreign Drug Inspection Program (www.gao.gov/new.items/d081047.pdf). Even the basic database of registered foreign plants subject to inspection is suspect. It lists 3249 facilities, but nearly 6800 foreign plants export drugs to the US. On average, about 8% are inspected annually, so a plant can expect to be examined every 13 years, as compared to an average 2.7 years for domestic facilities, states the report.

China health reforms: Over 2 decades after dismantling its universal health care system, the government of China has unveiled a draft health-reform plan (http://en.ndrc.gov.cn/) that proposes to reintroduce equitable and universal access to basic health services by 2010. Crafted in conjunction with 9 international agencies, including the World Health Organization, the plan also indicates that fixed prices will be set for all medical services. It's estimated that about 50% of all health spending in China is currently absorbed out-of-pocket, while 50% of household income is spent on health care. “The percentage of government's input in total health expenditure should be increased gradually so that the financial burden of individuals can be reduced,” the draft plan stated.