The ultimate objective the Chinese government is working on is universal health care. A draft towards that goal was recently published for the benefits of the public. Overall the preliminary draft underlines the importance of stable healthcare price, and the needs to secure greater health-care funding. The current system was said to be not inclusive enough as there is still large portion of its citizenry with limited access to healthcare or simply paying too much on it.
China, being one of the oldest civilizations, can boast of a proud medicine history. The central government is determined to continue further development on this particular field of medicine.
Nevertheless, western medicines do not have to take a back step at the expense of continued promotion of traditional Chinese medicine by the central government. Western medicines first made its inroad into China when China opened its door for trades with international community. Since the late 70s, it has slowly gaining popularity and acceptance. This is evident by the fact that Western-trained physicians and pharmacists grew amazingly at approximately 250,000 in the 5 years span from 1976 to 1981.
The local ‘barefoot doctors’ are perhaps the symbols of rural medical practitioners, often offering medical advices and medicines at small fees. But the growth of China has hastened the speed for the rural folks to acquire wealth, and these barefoot doctors are being sidelined to the more modern communal healthcare centers or county hospitals. This has led to worry that this trade is under severe threat and a real danger that these barefoot doctors may become extinct in the future. Another threat is that as modernization of the agricultural crops continues, more traditional doctors and practitioners have turned to farming, which is perceived as a better option for wealth accumulation. This consequently has crippled many cooperative medical programs.
While some tries to organized health-insurance programs on voluntary basis but the professionalism is clearly lacking in terms of management.
Surely, the public healthcare sector has suffered greatly due to the Cultural Revolution. But the Chinese government is determined to address the situation, through a slew of national programs that encourages healthier diets, especially in rural areas. The new epidemic control system in the country is also responsible to help China to turn itself into a healthier nation.
