China will spend 10.4 billion yuan (US$1.35 billion) of its 31
billion annual healthcare budget to support public healthcare in
rural and urban areas, the Ministry of Finance said on
Wednesday.
The countryside will take the lion's share, with 9.4 billion
yuan allocated for the establishment of the rural cooperative
health system in 23 provinces and regions across the country. The
other 1.03 billion yuan will be used to promote the urban public
health system in 22 provinces and regions in central and western
China, according to the ministry.
Farmers have been joining the rural cooperative health system in
droves as the ministry brings all districts that have a rural
population of more than 50 percent into its financing scheme. It
looks as though the State Council's ambitious target of covering 80
percent of the country's rural areas by the end of 2007 will be
met.
In the cities, the ministry has offered three to four yuan per
capita to support disease prevention and control, women's health,
children and the elderly, and public health education in local
communities.
In March, the Chinese government signed off on a 31.3 billion
yuan (US$4.1 billion) healthcare budget for 2007, up 86.8 percent
on the previous year.
(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2007)