China has 1.5 doctors and 2.4 hospital beds for every 1,000 head
of population. In Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing and other
large cities, general, traditional Chinese medicine and hospitals
that specialize in, for example, cancer, cardio- and
cerebro-vascular disorders, ophthalmology, dentistry and infectious
diseases can be found. Medium-sized cities throughout China have
general and specialized hospitals equipped with modern facilities.
In the countryside, medical, prevention, and health-care networks
at county, township and village levels have taken shape. With the
establishment and development of health and medical-care
organizations and the gradual spread of good hygiene habits,
infectious diseases and parasitic diseases, formerly the major
killers, have been replaced by cancers, cardio- and
cerebro-vascular diseases, creating a picture close to that of the
developed countries. The health of urban and rural residents has
been greatly improved; average life expectancy is now 71.8 years,
five years more than the international average.
"Prevention first" is one of the important principles in all of
China's health care work. All administrations have created hygiene
and disease-prevention organizations responsible for overall
management of these functions including hygiene and anti-epidemic
stations, forming a nationwide network of hygiene supervision and
epidemic prevention.? In order to eliminate or control some
serious epidemic and local diseases, the NPC and the State Council
has issued the Law on the Prevention and Cure of Infectious
Diseases, the National Plan for Poliomyelitis Elimination by the
Year 1995, and National Outline for IDD Elimination by the Year
2000. Disease prevention work was further strengthened and made
outstanding achievements.
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In May 2003, the State Council issued Regulations on Public Health
Emergencies, establishing a legal framework for tackling public
health crises. Furthering its cooperation with the World Health
Organization, the state plans significant investment in a system to
handle all public health crises, improving the responsiveness and
capabilities of emergency centers, treatment systems and hospitals’
information systems.?
Reform in urban medical care and changes in the make-up of society
have prompted the spread to most cities of community-based health
services whose main role is anti-epidemic work but which also
provide treatment and health-care. These popular organizations are
geared to handle at grassroots-level problems arising from
increased urbanization, population aging, changes in disease
patterns and social strata.??
In 2003, China embarked on a new-type of rural cooperative medical
care system. Based on major illness health insurance cover, the
system follows a payment plan by the individual, financial support
from the collective, and subsidies from the government. Once a
farmer who has joined the scheme is hospitalized, incurred costs
can be reimbursed on a sliding scale. This medical care system is
expected to cover the whole country by 2010. Meanwhile, China will
establish and practice a medical-aid system in rural areas that
offer medical aid to poor rural residents who are seriously ill.
Plans are set for a standardized rural medical-aid system
throughout the country in 2005. The medical-aid fund, specially
allocated by various levels of government and with donations from
people from all walks of life, will be used exclusively for medical
aid.