China's new rural cooperative medical system, which requires the government pay part of the farmers' medical expenses, covers 396 million farmers, about 44.7 percent of the total rural population, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday.

By the end of June, 1,399 counties (including some districts and cities) were piloting the new rural cooperative medical system, 48.9 percent of the total counties in China.

There were 678 pilot counties at the end of last year.

All counties, cities and districts in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong had joined the system, said ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an.

For most farmers in China, finding a well-equipped and a low-charged clinic in rural areas is not easy, because the investment in medical care facilities in rural areas is much less than in cities.

Financial burden hampers farmers from getting proper treatment. Statistics from the Health Ministry show one third of poor rural patients in China choose not to go to hospital and 45 percent of the hospitalized farmers ask to be discharged before they have recovered.

The Chinese government began to increase input in health care in rural areas when Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) ran riot in the country in 2003.

The central government has decided to double government allowances of 20 yuan (US$2.5) this year for each farmer participating in the rural cooperative medical system.

With the new policy, a farmer puts 10 yuan (US$1.25) a year into his personal medical care account and the government injects another 40 yuan (US$5) into his account. The government will pay a maximum of 65 percent of his medical charges a year.

The government also promised to spend more than 20 billion yuan(US$2.5 billion) over the next five years on renovating hospital buildings in towns and upgrading their equipment.

The system is aimed to be introduced to all rural areas by 2008.

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2006)