Farmers have always had lower quality medical services than
people in the city, so now the Ministry of Health intends to fix
the imbalance.
But whatever form comprehensive reform of the country's medical
system ultimately takes, state-owned hospitals will not be opened
to market competition, a top official in the ministry told
China Daily on Friday.
Instead, the ministry plans to send tens of thousands of
sophisticated medical practitioners from premium hospitals
nationwide to local clinics as part of a one-year program designed
for personnel training and service improvement.
They have been instructed to alleviate difficulties rural
residents have in accessing and affording medical services and to
help diagnose common diseases.
Each hospital could get 24,000 yuan (US$2,900) from the Ministry
of Finance for each doctor sent to work in rural areas on top of
any subsidies the provinces already provide.
"The hygienic conditions in rural areas and the health of
farmers have been a major cause of concern for us," Health Minister
Gao
Qiang said yesterday in Beijing as he addressed a ceremony
attended by health professionals who each signed a responsibility
pledge for the program.
Aside from medical equipment and facilities, professional
medical personnel are also urgently needed in villages.
Sun Dongdong, a professor at Peking University's Law School,
cited one example.
"Patients in Pinggu and Huairou, two suburban counties of
Beijing, have a hard time getting access to proper treatment,
though they are quite near the capital, which has the most
high-level hospitals in the country," Sun said.
During the ceremony, which attracted about three dozen leaders
of provincial health departments, Gao urged the program to be
carried out on a regular basis.
"Premium hospitals in cities and medical institutions at and
below the county level should establish a fixed cooperative
relation," Gao said, adding that by-then-experienced physicians
could offer regular and long-term assistance.
Also yesterday, Vice-Minister of Health Ma Xiaowei told
China Daily: "The ministry has never thought of
transferring the ownership of hospitals, and it will definitely not
be a key issue in a comprehensive medical system reform."
Sun, who's also an expert appointed to the ministry's committee
formed to discuss possible changes, said reform has not even
reached the draft stage yet.
In the meantime, teams in 10 provinces and autonomous regions,
including Beijing and south China's Guangdong Province, are
examining actions taken by local governments to fight illegal
medical practices.
"Since April 21, a nationwide action team in charge of striking
at illegal medical practices has received about 180 reports of
quack doctors, 160 of medical institution departments' illegally
renting to individuals, and a few cases of misidentifying the sex
of fetuses," the ministry's statement said yesterday.
Local governments had been told to take firm action based on the
reports, and supervision teams are supposed to report the outcome
of the crackdown early next month. "Standardizing medical practices
will protect public health and help maintain public order," Zheng
Bixian, a Jiangsu Provincial Health Bureau official, said.
(China Daily June 25, 2005)