Health and medical resources are unequally distributed between
the country's urban and rural areas, Health Minister Chen Zhu said
yesterday.
"People in the wealthier East enjoy better health and access to
health services than the poorer West," Chen said at the opening of
the four-day Global Forum for Health Research held in Beijing.
The government will provide primary medical care for all, Chen
said.
More investment is also being channeled to strengthen disease
prevention and control, and expedite the development of health
services in both rural and urban communities.
World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan said
public health depends on research in many areas, including
inventing new drugs and vaccines, and establishing a healthcare
system that offers quality and equal access for all.
Foundation Council of Global Forum for Health Research chair
Pramilla Senanayake said, however, that the last 20 years have also
seen global inequities in research.
Senanayake said only a fraction of the $126 billion spent on
health research and development worldwide in 2003 focused on the
poor.
Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress Han Qide said the forum will provide China with a chance
to learn from the experiences of other countries to deal with the
country's healthcare disparities.
The forum, founded in 1998, addresses fundamental differences in
healthcare worldwide. As many as 1,000 participants from more than
80 countries and regions are attending this year in Beijing.
(China Daily October 30, 2007)