BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Investigators dealt with 2,535 commercial corruption cases in China's health sector last year, involving 606 million yuan (77.7 million U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Supervision said on Wednesday.

    The cases involved bribery in the purchase and distribution of drugs and medical equipment, the ministry said.

    In China, some companies and individuals offer commissions to health officials and staff to secure contracts for substandard drugs and medical equipment, resulting in many medical accidents.

    Illegal deals between health workers and drug dealers also contributed to rising medical expenses as some doctors prescribed expensive drugs for which they received kickbacks.

    The government in 2005 started a massive campaign to weed out commercial bribery. So far, 21,889 cases of commercial bribery have been investigated, involving 5.27 billion yuan (676 million U.S. dollars).

    Last year, the government also urged health workers to voluntarily turn in bribes, MOH sources said. About 270 million yuan had been turned in by health workers by the end of last year.

    During the year-long nationwide crackdown on corruption in the health sector, 693 health workers were convicted on charges of commercial bribery or punished according to Party disciplinary codes or criminal law.

    The government has also been trying to lower drug prices by setting price caps.

    The Ministry of Supervision said the caps, involving hundreds of products, could save consumers about 34.1 billion yuan a year.