China has stepped up anti-corruption efforts in the medical sector, with doctors turning in 37.66 million yuan (5.51 million U.S. dollars) in illicit revenue since November 2007, the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said Wednesday.

The money included kickbacks to doctors for prescribing certain drugs and "thank-you money" from surgery patients, according to the CCDI, the top anti-corruption body.

According to the commission, 21 of the 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions on the mainland have adopted a government-led bidding system for drug procurement, and nearly 90 percent of the prescriptions written at medical facilities were covered by that system.

Regulations on drug pricing and registration have been revised to further curb corruption,it said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2009)