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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (4574)	2/28/2006 3:32:42 AM
From: Snowshoe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218659

Jay, the problems with China's healthcare system are widely reported... China looking forward - an overview of the healthcare industry Frost & Sullivan (21 February 2006) By Dr Amarpreet S Dhiman, Drug Discovery Technologies Team Leader - Healthcare Published 16 Feb 2006 China stood as a leading civilisation, outpacing the rest of the world for the better part of the 20th century. The establishment of an autocratic socialist system in 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) began to reshape and address many political and economic challenges, and focussed the country to move onwards to a more market-oriented economic development system. Accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001 helped China to strengthen its ability by maintaining strong economic growth rates as well as generating tremendous benefits with expanding trade, spearheading further economic reform, attracting even higher levels of foreign investment, and fostering the rule of law. One of the most fascinating and important aspects of China’s recent history has been the evolution of its healthcare system. As the economy boomed over the past 20 years, in part by emulating Western economic methods, China’s healthcare system has nearly imploded, partly because of strategies adopted of some US proponents of the radical healthcare privatisation. This expansion dramatically improved the country's health situation with extended mortality associated with an aging population in a rapidly urbanising society. Remaining administratively hierarchical and bifurcated, the healthcare system has undergone a process of restructuring and modernisation aimed at improving healthcare standards. The Chinese Government is spending millions of dollars on a yearly basis to develop and advance its healthcare system. In 2004, the Chinese Ministry of Health (MoH) announced a $460 million budget for healthcare expansion. With the market growing annually, the supply of health care professionals and the total number of hospital beds has almost doubled from 1985 to 2001 according to a 2004 World Health Organization (WHO) bulletin. This is largely attributed to China's health system moving to a free market system. For a population of 1.3 billion people, China has over some 300,000 healthcare facilities, ranging from large hospitals though to local community clinics, which in total provide an average close to 3 beds per 1000 population. Theoretically, the majority of the population has access to treatment, although, in practice an estimated 75% of the population (mainly in the rural areas) are not covered by a healthcare system. These people are limited in their ability to pay for healthcare. For all practical purposes, all rural, primary health services are now provided on a fee basis. Rural doctors charge small consultation fees and earn the bulk of their income from profits on the medicines they dispense. Separate facilities are often set up within major hospitals for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which remains a recognised and valued source of treatment. Based on the co-existence of TCM, Western medicines and the actual needs of people, the Chinese government supports the development of both TCM and Western medicine in China. Although, the Chinese government has continually implemented new reforms and guidelines to restructure the healthcare sector, the current health care system has invited a number of concerns. Uncoordinated financing, organisational policies and pricing. Irrational pricing has resulted in over-prescription of drugs, and a push to allocate resources towards expensive medical technology rather than public health has resulted in an imbalance of healthcare treatment and service quality. This has led to unmet medical needs with unequal access between the rich and poor, and between urban and rural areas. In addition, other issues relating to the emergence of new health problems reflecting a more affluent society, for example, chronic and degenerative diseases, highlights the need for major infrastructure improvements in order these challenges are tackled more effectively. The Chinese health care system offers a number of lessons as radical privatisation of healthcare can carry enormous risks for the health of citizens and for the stability of governments. China's leaders have begun tackle the enormous social engineering challenge of repairing past damage and shaping a new healthcare system that fits their unique social system and culture. Combining both private and public provision of insurance and services, it will look very different in rural and urban areas. The evolving healthcare system will help decrease waiting lists at hospitals, allowing more serious illnesses to be dealt with quickly and in addition, it will promote disease prevention, health promotion and family planning services. Personal health records will also be introduced to help produce earlier diagnoses and the initiation of preventive measures. pharmalicensing.com