Family doctors are becoming an established part of community in
China as more people turn to their general practitioner for medical
help rather than make the traditional trip to the hospital.
In
Zhejiang
Province, an economic powerhouse on China's east coast, nearly
a quarter of the population now enjoy medical services in the
community.
Latest figures show that for every 15,000 to 20,000 people in
Zhejiang, there is one medical service center.
General practitioners with these service centers normally provide
first aid and more personal services to families upon request and
help promote healthcare and family planning within the
community.
"Family doctors play a major role in our life," said Rong Ruqin,
who suffers from heart disease. "My granddaughter says they are
guardians of our health".
Rong's son and daughter are both working abroad. Her 92-year-old
mother, her granddaughter and herself are among the first to
benefit from the family doctor service in Zhejiang. Their family
doctor, Ma Haiyan, is like a member of the family.
This type of service is mainly designed to benefit the general
public and therefore makes little profit. "This is a new attempt to
reform China's old health service system," said a health
official.
In
Zhejiang, a standard agreement with a family doctor includes a free
check-up every year, free telephone inquiry service around the
clock and a complete medical record of all family members, for 10
yuan (US$1.2) per person. A minor service fee is applicable for
house calls and special healthcare instruction.
Some cities do even better. In Ningbo, a port city in Zhejiang,
doctors are requested to be at the patient's house within 10
minutes of being called.
With rapid changes in the Chinese lifestyle, cancer, heart,
cerebrovascular and respiratory diseases have become the top four
killers. Common ailments also include diabetes, high blood pressure
and mental diseases.
The on-going medical reform aims to address those changes and
provide more personal services to help citizens treat and prevent
diseases, said Li Lanjuan, director of the provincial department of
public health.
Zhejiang Province, one of the provinces with reported fast economic
and social development in China, over the past two decades, has
promoted the service to rural areas as well, ensuring timely
medical services to 2.3 million farmers in remote areas.
By
the end of last year, family doctors in Zhejiang had signed over
195,000 healthcare agreements with urban and rural households.
"By 2005, every 1,000 to 2,000 urbanites will have one full
practitioner," Li estimated.
To
achieve this goal, Zhejiang Province alone has poured over five
million yuan into training doctors and nurses, she said.
(Xinhua News
Agency March 25, 2002)