In a New Year's message China's Minister of Health, Gao Qiang,
promises to hammer out reform of the country's medical care system
in 2007.
The minister said the medical care reform scheme will feature
increased government investment, stricter professional supervision
and reduced medical costs for citizens.
He said in 2007, the government will continue to extend its health
care network in rural areas and in urban communities, to provide
safe, efficient, convenient and reasonably priced public health
services for citizens.
He said relevant departments will tighten management on medical
services, strengthen training and medical ethics to improve the
quality of medical services, ensure medical security and form
harmonious relations between doctors and patients.
A national survey on medical services, conducted in 2006,
showed48.9 percent of Chinese didn't bother or couldn't afford to
see a doctor when they were ill and 29.6 percent refused a doctor's
advice to be hospitalized because the cost was too high.
Health care reforms are in response to widespread public
dissatisfaction with the current system. In October 2006, Mao
Qun'an, spokesman of the Ministry of Health (MOH), said the
government would build a health care system with Chinese
characteristics, rather than simply copy a "European model" or
"American model".
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2007)