OBJECTIVE:To study the international experiences on essential medicine policy and to provide useful reference for the establishing and improving of essential medicine policy in China.METHODS:The practice and experiences on essential medicine policy of countries at different level of national income were analyzed.RESULTS & CONCLUSION:Experiences from Austria,India,South Africa and Zimbabwe etc suggest that a good strategy to improve the availability of essential medici-nes should give priority consideration to the pharmaceutical system and develop essential medicine policy on the basis of a holistic framework including essential formulary as well as rational pricing and reimbursement systems.

Objective To explore the pain beliefs and perceptions held by patients with digestive system cancer.Methods 10 patients with digestive system cancer were interviewed for exploration of their pain beliefs and perceptions.The data were collected using in-depth interview and analyzed with category approach.Results The beliefs and perceptions held by patients with digestive system cancer were presented as:negative pain beliefs,negative emotional perceptions,view social support as important resources.Conclusions The pain beliefs and perceptions in digestive system cancer pain patients are negative.Clinical medical workers should pay attention to the role of beliefs in pain management,and help patients build positive pain beliefs through utilizing social support resources effectively.