China Headlines: Striving for the health of 1.4 billion people

Tan Ruicheng from Shannxi only had to spend 500 yuan (about 76 U.S. dollars) on cerebral ischemia treatment as his medical insurance covered the remaining 2,000 yuan, a huge saving for the rural resident.

The world's largest medical insurance network now covers more than 95 percent of the Chinese population, giving them access to basic health services from birth to the day they leave the world.

As more and more medical costs are reimbursed, overall expenditure on health care in 2015 was at its lowest level in two decades, in terms of the percentage of the country's total medical spending.

The medical care reform that China is undertaking is the largest in history, and it has expanded average life expectancy and decreased infant mortality, according to Bernhard Schwartlander, World Health Organization China representative.

As most Chinese have become better-off, they have become more health conscious, as such the leadership is taking it very seriously.

NO HEALTH, NO PROSPECTS

For Tan, he has noticed that his treatment fees have also decreased. Previously a one-off treatment would cost around 4,000 yuan, nearly half the average annual income of rural residents.

This plummeted to 2,500 yuan after the hospital was upgraded as part of the ongoing medical care reform.

After nearly four decades of rapid development, China is striving to provide everyone with equal access to public services, health care being one of the most important.

The reform drive has been characterized by unprecedented strength and scope since President Xi Jinping assumed office in 2013.

The central leadership underscored the building of a "healthy China" in the proposal for the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016 to 2020,) a key period for China to accomplish the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020.

There will be no well-off society in all respects, however, if the population is not healthy, Xi said.

Experts say the "healthy China" strategy is timely as it taps into the people's needs.

"A well-off society in all respects is supposed to be one where the people not only live a carefree life but are healthy -- both physically and mentally," said Wang Hufeng, a medical reform researcher at Renmin University.

Only by maintaining the population's condition can China achieve sustainable growth, he said.

Some developed countries, such as the Britain, had launched national health promotion plans as early as 1950s to enhance labor competitiveness and national power.

As the economy enters a "new normal," the intelligence-intensive and green health service industries are also inevitable choices for China to face up to the slowdown pressure and promote the long-term development of the medical sectors.

CHALLENGES, PROSPECTS

The improvements in the medical care sector are remarkable, but challenges remain.

The percentage of medical costs paid by the government is still low and medicine needs to be more affordable. In some places, especially rural areas, there are very long waiting lists for doctor or hospital appointments.

Some families have even fallen into poverty after spending all money in treating a serious disease.

In Xi'an, the capital city of Shannxi, a poll by the local government indicated that lower medicine and easier access to quality medical services were the top two New Year wishes.

To solve the price problem, "the most prominent in the sector," Zhan Jifu, head of the healthcare reform leading group in Sanming city, said authorities must cut the illegal profit chain between hospitals and drug suppliers and ban doctors prescribing expensive but unnecessary drugs.

During a visit to Jiangsu Province in October 2014, President Xi Jinping vowed to allocate more medical resources at the community level and promote equal access to public health services that are safe, efficient, convenient and affordable.

The central authorities rolled out a plan last April to regulate the operation of public hospitals, mandating that they should not be profit-driven and only work for the public good.

Clean and nutritious food are also the key to the health of people. After a series of food scandals, such as recycled cooking coil, the top legislature in 2015 adopted an amendment to the Food Safety Law, featuring serious penalties for offenders.

The "healthy China" strategy is a long-term plan, and several supportive measures on medicine and hospitals should be put in place to push its persistent and thorough implementation, said Li Bin, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

She added that a healthy China does not mean more medical units or hospitals, but rather less patients, and more health and prevention publicity.

The central government should vigorously advocate healthy lifestyles and focus on strengthening prevention, echoed Wang Hufeng. Endit