Chinese people will be able to buy imported AIDS medicines more
cheaply, visit an experienced foreign dentist in the neighborhood
and use the latest medical technology to fight the flab, according
to an international seminar in Beijing yesterday.
Wang Longde, vice-minister of health, said these were only some of
the benefits that will arise now that China is in the World Trade
Organization.
The week-long workshop brought together China's top health
officials, representatives of medical institutions, academics and
foreign experts to discuss the implications of China's WTO
membership on the health sector.
One of the most cheerful messages for the public was that tariff
charges on imported medicine are to drop from the current average
of 14 percent to between 5.5 and 6.5 percent by next year, while
the tariff level on imports of large-sized medical equipment will
be halved to 10 percent by 2003.
The tariff reduction should benefit stroke victims and patients
suffering from AIDS or tuberculosis as access to advanced drugs and
care has been restricted until now by exorbitant prices and import
controls.
Yet some problems will arise. Wang highlighted the food-safety
issue and the growing difficulties of keeping viruses and bacteria
from foreign sources in check as China interacts more with the
outside world.
Citing official figures, Wang said that 82,000 people crossing the
border into or out of China last November had a virus or disease.
This figure included 210 people with HIV or AIDS.
Wang said of the problem: "It will be a tough nut as China will see
a growing interaction of humans after the WTO entry."
The seminar was the first time that top Chinese health officials
had met to examine the WTO issues.
In
an interview with China Daily yesterday, Nick Drager, a
coordinator at the Department of Health Development of the United
Nations' World Health
Organization, said the dialogue can help bring together health
officials and their peers in the world of trade to gain a better
understanding of how the WTO will affect health care.
Drager said: "I have seen a growing awareness among Chinese health
officials of the need to look into the agreement. This will
facilitate their work on a series of health issues related to the
WTO era, such as policies on health, opening services and setting
regulations."
But Janos Annus, the top representative of the WHO in China and a
long-time expert on health issues in China, said Beijing still
faces difficulties before it can deliver the goods.
Annus said in an interview yesterday that the biggest issue right
now is to provide equal access to health care for all of Chinese
people.
He
said: "The inequity is still there. The health-care coverage in the
urban area is still low and, in rural regions, there is still a
lack of a health insurance system."
Concern at the proportion of health spending that goes to urban
dwellers has grown in the wake of the restructuring of the health
insurance system in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.
With a population of 1.3 billion, China has 22 percent of the world
population.
(China
Daily January 29, 2002)