The government has pledged to build 2,000 county hospitals and 5,000 township clinics in rural areas within the next three years as part of its healthcare reform, which aims to make medical services more available and affordable at the grassroots.

A total of 29,000 township-level clinics will be built nationwide in the next three years, Premier Wen Jiabao said in his government work report at the ongoing session of the National People's Congress (NPC).

The government will also support the construction of more than 10,000 medical facilities in urban areas, according to the reform plan, which stresses on the need to train more medical practitioners, Minister of Health Chen Zhu said.

Further details of the plan would be announced soon, he added. Chen said most people, even those suffering from minor ailments, were still flocking to large hospitals, leading to long queues and hefty bills.

However, he added the number of patients visiting community medical centers for treatment was increasing.

About 60 percent of the patients visiting large hospitals in China suffer from minor ailments, which can be treated at smaller facilities, said Zhong Nanshan, a top respiratory scientist and a deputy to the NPC.

Lu Fan, vice-president of Wenzhou Medical College, however, said grassroots clinics lack good medical equipment and staff.

Li Jianru, a tour guide in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, said she had never used community medial services, nor does she ever intend to.

"It will take some time to build people's confidence in community medical services even after the reform plan is implemented," she said.

Bai Hua, an accountant in Beijing, said: "It seems to me that community clinics exist just for the convenience of elderly people."

Zhong suggested more capital be pumped into community clinics, and added that medical graduates should be trained free of cost at bigger hospitals before they start their practice at grassroots clinics, and be offered "reasonable salaries".

Li Dapeng, a professor at Zhejiang Chinese Medical University and an NPC deputy, suggested the government work out more incentives to lure doctors to work at community clinics.

Large hospitals should be encouraged to run community clinics, said deputy health minister Huang Jiefu.

(China Daily March 13, 2009)