This, my friend, is a game changer. They get health care right, internal consumption will explode. Amazing times... This is actually a ongoing process. The Chinese government has put alot of money in rural areas in recent years. Other than increasing farmers' income, a lot of welfare are given to them. Unfortunately, the reporters from other countries are still using old information. I am not meaning that Chinese farmers are rich (many of course are), but situation has been changing very quickly. China health reform to give every village a clinic By GILLIAN WONG 10 hours ago BEIJING (AP) China announced plans Wednesday to build thousands of new hospitals and put a clinic in every village in the next three years, the first steps in a decade-long reform plan to provide universal health care coverage. Public health care in China has been underfunded for years, and the high cost and poor availability of services are among the biggest complaints of the Chinese public. China is pumping in 850 billion yuan ($124 billion) to reform the ailing system in the next three years as part of an ambitious and still only hazily outlined plan to provide basic medical coverage and insurance to all of China's 1.3 billion people. "By 2011, we will remarkably improve the accessibility of basic medical care and health care services and alleviate the burden of the general public for medical costs," Vice Health Minister Zhang Mao said at a briefing for reporters. Health infrastructure in the poor countryside is especially creaky, and a report distributed at the briefing said clinic construction in remote and borders areas would be a key priority. "Within three years, every village in the country will have a clinic," the report said. A total of 1.37 million certified health care practitioners will be trained to staff those clinics, it said, alongside about half-a-million more assigned to medical centers at the township and city level. China has nearly 700,000 villages. The reforms also include plans to build 29,000 new township hospitals, and 2,000 at the county level. Doctors will also be allowed to work in more than one facility, a change which one public health expert said would dramatically improve the quality of basic health services. Doctors in the public health system are currently constrained to one work unit, like government officials rather than independent professionals. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iZ2J6GxXq5H15q6GophdmYSPrCPQD97ECK8G0
This is actually good thing, as the PRC's rush to modernize medicine left the bulk of the country without medical recourse. One of the best things that China did was incorporation of modern western medicine into it's core of health academics. However, the worst thing that it did was only offer such advances to those that could pay. While the service is available, it often requires payment way beyond what the average wage earner in China can afford. There really is no system of health insurance for the general population, such that, for all intents and purposes, only the affluent could afford real medical health care. China doesn't really yet have a universal health model but the intent of moving public health services into every village is a laudable step. It is reminiscent of Mao's politically motivated barefoot doctor campaign, but hopefully sans the politics. Previously, Mao had used this model to rid the cities of politically unreliable health care personnel, shunting them to remote villages in what was announced as a public health policy. These Barefoot Doctors (an official designation) worked in the countryside from 1968 through 1985, were not as effective as real physicians in strict medical terms, but generally did have a positive impact in terms of basic public health. The Chinese rural population at the time, knew little of hygiene, so having any sort of knowledgeable public official to mandate basic principles of health safety made dramatic improvements in rural community health. Their use was ultimately hailed as an breakthrough in health care delivery approach. Their use is credited to ensuring widespread vaccinations and the prevention of the easy spreading of infectious diseases for the first time in China. But this eventually may prove to be a double edged sword for the PRC. Like most countries that had incorporated health care to the masses, the subsequent costs of such will always entail a huge degree of sticker shock. As the services and knowledge of remote villages become increasingly sophisticated, so too, will their demands and costs. Again, as there is no real system of private third party payer to underwrite these expenses, the PRC may have let out a Genie that won't easily fit back into its bottle; only time will tell. -detect At any rate, as this easily benefits the common Chinese citizen, I'm thumbs up on this one. ***Sidebar: For those that are investors, the companies that make basic equipment and pharmaceuticals are going to make a royal killing on this one. Look for manufacturers of Xray machines, Cat Scanners, antibiotics, et cetera.
good to hear that the government is doing something for the people and most importantly in health care......
No matter what one says, health must come first, because without health, one can not do anything, This has been an on-going plan for many years, but now, they're really going at it. Now China just has to wait a few years for their nice and new hospitals and clinic =),
