OBJECTIVE： To investigate the affordability of essential medicines in public health and medical institutions of Shanghai Qingpu district after the implementation of the national essential medicines， and provide the basis for subsequent formulation and improvement of relevant policies. METHODS： Based on the WHO/HAI standardized approach， a survey on the affordability of 30 essential medicines was conducted in public health and medical institutions of Shanghai Qingpu district in aspects of equipping staffing， drug availability and the relativity in different levels of public health and institutions for investigation and evaluation. RESULTS： The equipping rate of 30 essential medicines in Shanghai Qingpu District varied from 53.33％-86.67％， while the date of original drugs varied from 16.67％-53.33％， the equipping rate in secondary and tertiary hospitals was high. The availability of 30 essential medicines with Approved Drug Names in secondary and tertiary hospitals （77.78％） was generally higher than that in community health service center （63.00％）， while the availability of original drugs was relatively low. The essential medicines with more than 50％ relativity in community health service center and tertiary hospitals were only 6 kinds of drugs. CONCLUSIONS： The equipping rate and availability of essential medicines in primary health and medical institutions are lower than that of secondary and tertiary hospitals in Qingpu district， as well as the relativity. It is suggested to further improve equipping policy for essential medicines from the relativity to improve match rate of production place； while further study and improvement for generic drugs from bioequivalence to improve its bioequivalence with original drugs and ensure clinical efficacy.