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China aims to alleviate pediatrician shortage by 2020

Xinhua, May 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

A document on Wednesday laid out measures to cope with China's national pediatrician shortage.

The document, jointly released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Education proposed 1 pediatrician for every 1,500 children by the end of 2020.

There are currently 118,000 pediatricians in China, one for every 2,000 children, a level much lower than that of major developed nations.

The number of pediatric hospitals is also relatively small. Of 25,860 hospitals in China at the end of 2014, only 99 were dedicated to children. Nearly 70 percent of parents have had difficulty getting their child an appointment with a pediatrician, according to a March survey by "China Youth Daily."

The document called for change, including retraining 5,000 general practitioners annually and recruiting and training 30,000 resident pediatricians by 2020. Endi