North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region will invest nearly 1.5 billion yuan (US$186 million) in construction of a medical care system in the next five years, a senior regional health official said.

"The purpose is to improve the infrastructure of public health service institutions and establish a self-contained medicare system for herdsmen and farmers," said Bai Baoyu, deputy director of the Health Department of the region.

Over the past few years, the central and local governments have invested a lot in improving the health services of agricultural and pastoral areas, but many local health service institutions are still in poor condition, according to Bai.

We will apply for 80 percent of the 1.5 billion yuan from the central government, and the rest will be provided by local governments at all levels in the region, Bai said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2006)