BEIJING -- To date, 45 kinds of orphan drugs have been included in China's national medical insurance catalog, as the country ramps up efforts to increase drug affordability for patients of rare diseases.

These orphan drugs are used in the treatment of 26 rare diseases, according to data released at the ongoing 2022 China Conference on Rare Diseases in Beijing.

Since 2018, 19 new orphan drugs have been added to the national medical insurance catalog, with an average price reduction of 52.6 percent.

There are more than 20 million patients with various types of rare diseases in China, with the number increasing by over 200,000 yearly, showed data.