The importance of equal access to basic healthcare service for
all citizens was yesterday stressed - for the first time - by the
top health official.
Minister of Health Chen Zhu said all people share the same right
to basic healthcare regardless of age, gender, occupation, and
economic status or where they live.
"This is China's top healthcare strategy," Chen told a two-day
national meeting that started yesterday.
It's the first time China's top heath official has acknowledged
the importance of equity in basic healthcare in the wake of
mounting criticism over huge gaps in access to health service
between rural and urban residents.
Dr Hans Troedsson, the World Health Organization (WHO) China
Representative, told China Daily that his organization greatly
appreciates the statement of the Ministry of Health (MOH), which he
said shows that the WHO and the Chinese government share the same
views.
"Recognizing the importance of equity through universal access
to basic healthcare services is indeed in line with WHO
recommendations to the government as part of our support on health
sector reforms in China," he said.
Currently, each urban employee accumulates 1,000 yuan ($137)
every year in the medical insurance fund, while the figure is only
50 yuan ($6.8) for farmers under the rural cooperative medical
scheme (RCMS), launched in 2002 to provide subsidized healthcare
for farmers.
MOH statistics show that the per capita medical cost of
urbanites in 2006 was twice that of their rural counterparts, with
the national average at 749.8 yuan ($102).
By the end of 2007, of the country's 5.7 million medical
workers, only 950,000 worked in the countryside serving more than
800 million or 60 percent of the total population.
In a report last month outlining the framework and guidelines
for medical reform, Chen acknowledged the allocation of limited
medical resources had been "skewed" in favor of major hospitals in
cities.
The minister then promised to set up a framework for basic
medicare network by 2010 to reduce the widening gap in medical
services among different income groups and regions, with the final
goal of providing every citizen with safe, effective, and low-cost
healthcare services.
To realize the goal, the government is obliged to play a
dominant role in the administration and supervision of the health
sector, and constantly beef up input, said the report.
Last year, the central government contributed 63.1 billion yuan
($8.6 billion) to the health sector, up 277 percent over 2006,
according to official statistics.
However, it is still a far cry from the total national medical
expenditure in 2006 - 985 billion yuan ($135 billion), or 4.67
percent of GDP.
Chen yesterday pledged more funding from the central government
this year.
In addition, the RCMS will cover all Chinese rural population
within the year, he said. By the end of last September, 86 percent
of farmers were under the umbrella.
Also, the government plans to boost the annual contribution from
the current 40 yuan ($5.50) to 80 yuan ($11) each in the RCMS
fund.
The urban basic medicare policy will be further expanded to
include another 30 million by the end of 2008, it said.
The minister also said that the blueprint on health reform and
some accompanying documents are more or less ready.
"The State Council is soliciting experts' views to finetune
them," Chen said.
The reform, a challenge faced by all countries, should be no
quick fix, but a step-by-step, time-consuming, and complicated
process, Vice-Premier Wu Yi told the meeting, adding: "Patience is
needed."
(China Daily January 8, 2008)