Gong Zhining was considering giving up treating his emphysema.
As a farmer in northwest China's Ningxia
Hui Autonomous Region, he could hardly afford visiting a
hospital at the Longde County seat twice a year at a cost of 4,000
yuan (US$500).
The disease has dragged his family into abject poverty -- his
sons, one aged 31 and the other 27, are too poor to get
married.
But Gong may soon benefit from a rural cooperative medical
system launched by the Chinese government which aims to offer
medical services to every patient in rural villages.
Geng Guang, a farmer in Taiyuan of north China's Shanxi
Province, is one of the beneficiaries of the cooperative medical
system. He paid more than 20,000 yuan (US$2,500) for a cranial
surgery last month. However, he obtained a refund of 10,000 yuan
(US$1,250) since taking part in a pilot project of the rural
cooperative medical system.
Under the rural cooperative medical system, a farmer can get a
reimbursement of up to 10,000 yuan.
By last June, 641 counties were designated to experiment with
the cooperative medical system, which covers 160 million farmers.
The central government earmarked 5 billion yuan (US$625 million) as
subsidies for the medicare scheme, which benefited 100 million
Chinese farmers.
China plans to popularize the rural cooperative medical system
step by step and spread it to all rural villages by 2008, Chinese
Premier Wen
Jiabao said.
China has 900 million farmers. Decades ago, the government
covered the major part of medical expenses for farmers under a
rural medical system. The system ceased operation in the early
1980s. Since then, Chinese farmers have mainly had to cope with
diseases on their own. The majority of them find it difficult to
get timely and economic medical treatment.
Statistics from the Health Ministry show that 33 percent of
rural patients do not see doctors when they are ill and 45 percent
of rural inpatients leave hospitals before they are cured.
In 2003, China launched a new type rural cooperative medical
system, under which, the government and farmers combined efforts in
raising funds to help farmers afford medical cost for major
diseases. l
Yin Yanxiang, an official in charge of rural medicare in Shanxi
Province, said "A comprehensive health care and medical system is
needed in rural China to ensure farmers' access to medical
services."
Recently, the State Council called on governments at all levels
to put health development in rural areas on top of their agenda and
view it as a major task in the course of building a "new socialist
countryside."
"The farmers will be provided with safe, effective, convenient
and low-cost health service" with the new medical system, according
to a document recently released by an executive meeting of the
State Council.
China will train, guide and encourage more health workers and
medical college graduates to seek jobs in rural clinics and
encourage medical staff in urban hospitals to offer services or
professional guidance for rural doctors.
(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2006)