President Hu Jintao said at a workshop Monday that the
government would shoulder more responsibility for strengthening the
health system work.
At the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China (CPC) workshop, Hu stressed the need to
reform the health care system and build a safe, effective,
convenient and inexpensive medical care network covering both urban
and rural residents.
"The goal is for everyone to enjoy a basic healthcare service,"
he said.
He promised more efforts to deal with public complaints about
the lack of affordable medical services as well as efforts to
narrow the health service quality gap between urban and rural
regions and different income groups.
Improvements to the health system will give equal weight to
traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine.
The focus will be on improving disease prevention and control,
public health monitoring and management of public health
emergencies, said Hu.
"The public service function of public hospitals will be
strengthened."
A system that covers basic medicines will be set up to drive
high medicine prices down, he said.
He also urged Party committees and governments to crack down on
illegal practices that endanger public health and safety and called
on medical staff to be more aware of their responsibilities.
(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2006)