Vice Premier Wu Yi said at the weekend that the nation's efforts to build a cooperative healthcare system in rural areas had started to pay off, with improved healthcare, better facilities and lower costs.

Wu made the remarks at a two-day national meeting in Beijing on rural cooperative healthcare.

Wu urged officials at all levels to fully recognize and solve the problems concerning the pilot work for cooperative healthcare.

Wu said that the successes were the result of the joint efforts of all related departments.

Under the pilot system, each villager contributes 10 yuan (US$1.25) each year, while the central and local government both contribute 10 yuan (US$1.25) per person to a fund, which reimburses members' medical costs.

In case of illness, a farmer recruited into the network will have part of their medical expenses paid by the fund.

China started to set up a cooperative healthcare system last July to enable its 900 million rural residents to receive basic medical care services.

The government has set a deadline of eight years for its completion.

In July this year, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao gave important instructions, asking the local medical authorities to promote the cooperative healthcare system in rural areas.

Pointing out the reforms could be difficult and complicated, the leaders urged the adoption of methods which best suit local conditions.

Each province and autonomous region has selected two or three counties for the trial project and farmers are asked to join the cooperative healthcare program on a voluntary basis.

Despite the achievements, some problems still exist, Wu added. She said some local authorities did not carry out the central government's policies effectively.

Wu added that the majority of the pilot counties had yet to established a reasonable mechanism for collecting funds from farmers and some of the funds had been used improperly.

She urged local governments and officials to solve the existing problems and improve the pilot program to create a good base for its national operation.

The pilot counties have all welcomed the new system.

Northwest China's Qinghai Province began its cooperative healthcare pilot in August 2003.

By the end of that year, 866,500 people had joined the fund. The province had paid a total of 12.34 million yuan (US$1.5 million) to 91,387 people by September this year.

Niu Huimin, deputy director of the Health Bureau of Qinghai Province said that by covering part of their medical expenses, the new healthcare system could largely ease rural people's fear of illness.

In Midu County in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, the healthcare network helped residents save more than 5 million yuan (US$604,595), reported the People's Daily.

According to the White Paper on China's Social Security and Its Policy, by the end of June this year, the new cooperative healthcare network had covered areas with 95.04 million rural residents, among whom 68.99 million joined the system.

In contrast to China's fast economic growth, medical services and people's health in rural areas remains a cause for concern. 
 
(China Daily October 25, 2004)