Rural residents in less-developed western regions of China are set
to receive more financial aid for health care services.
The central government yesterday pledged new sources of medical
subsidies, starting from 2003.
Vice-Premier Li Lanqing, speaking at a national conference on
public health in the countryside yesterday, said rural residents
can access a 10 yuan (US$1.21) per capita annual subsidy from the
State fiscal budget if they sign up to the rural co-operative
health care mechanism.
The financing mechanism is emerging in rural areas under the
auspices of local governments with a view to offering financial
relief to destitute families.
Bills for medical operations and hospitalization charges are often
exorbitantly high for people on low incomes.
Li
said residents could receive no less than 10 yuan per person per
year of financial relief from government in the local fiscal
budget.
"We will also improve services using providers such as mobile
medical teams to make sure people living in remote areas can secure
access," said Li.
Western regions of China have the highest incidence of many of the
most infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis. A similar situation
exists for endemic problems such as iodine deficiency and
Kaschin-Beck disease.
About 80 percent of China's medical resources are accessible to
just 30 percent of the population - all living in urban areas.
Li
said there was an underlying need to collect funding from various
channels - namely from the State budget, donations and charities -
to help more destitute families afford rising medical bills.
Beijing promised earlier this month to invest 800 million yuan
(US$93.4 million), taken from national treasury bonds, to initiate
a programme in 12 western provinces and regions to improve local
health care services.
(China
Daily October 31, 2002)