In committing themselves to reform the country's medical system,
China's policy-makers appear to be drawing inspiration from Chinese
healers of old.
Traditional Chinese medicine distinguishes itself by focusing on
a holistic approach to the patient rather than disease-oriented
diagnosis and treatment.
A similar approach is being taken with regard to the medical
system, which itself is seriously ill.
Though it is still too early to predict the effect of the joint
effort by about a dozen State Council departments, co-chaired by
the minister of the National Development and Reform Commission and
the health minister, this latest government initiative to address
various problems related to medical reforms merits credit.
By inviting all relevant government departments to participate
on a high-powered panel, the government gives a much-needed shot in
the arm to the country's medical reform. It is believed that
cross-departmental efforts will help remove many of the existing
barriers that have long kept comprehensive solutions at bay.
Persistent, escalating public complaints about a lack of access
to affordable health care have compelled policy-makers to rethink
the previous approach to revamping the country's medical
system.
As soaring drug prices put an increasingly unbearable financial
burden on most Chinese families, the National Development and
Reform Commission, the pricing authority, has slashed drug prices
19 times over the past decade. The latest round of price cuts took
place less than a month ago.
Yet as long as most hospitals still have to make ends meet by
profiting from drug sales, drug prices always find a way to spring
back sooner or later.
Kickbacks and "red envelopes," which some doctors take from
pharmaceutical companies and patients respectively, present another
problem that has caught policymakers' attention.
The authorities not only resorted to professional ethics to make
medical workers behave. From the beginning of this year, the
central government has even listed such malpractice as one target
in the national campaign against commercial bribery.
The intensity of the Chinese government's effort to revamp the
country's medical system is enormous. But the result is far from
satisfactory.
Piecemeal stunts can never tackle the problem at its source.
The fact that more than 10 State Council departments are
involved in the new panel testifies to the complexity of China's
medical reform. A fragmented healthcare administration system will
only further reduce the efficiency of an already underfunded
medical system.
Hence, to establish a national health system that is equitable
and available to all, it is crucial to integrate all the country's
medical resources, which are currently distributed unevenly and
scarcely across regions and departments.
The formation of an interdepartmental reform panel is just the
first step in taking a holistic approach towards the country's
medical reform, which the Ministry of Health definitely cannot
undertake all by itself.
With so many departments on the panel, it is more likely than
before that policy-makers will finally come up with a comprehensive
solution to boost the country's medical reform.
(China Daily September 21, 2006)