In China, Rx for Ailing Health System

Source: WSJ

QUNGUANG, China -- Here in China's agricultural heartland, signs of progress abound. Qunguang village's 1,000 inhabitants, who live among rolling fields of corn, rice and peanuts, are linked to the world by a new 215-mile, $1.6 billion expressway. An industrial park is under construction nearby. Incomes for rural people in the county jumped 85% between 2000 and 2008.

At the local health clinic, not far from the highway exit ramp, Mei Ruying diagnoses patients with little more than a stethoscope and a thermometer. To keep abreast of new drugs, Ms. Mei, who lacks a medical degree, reads instructions enclosed in the boxes.

China's rickety health-care system relies on thousands of practitioners like Ms. Mei. Often, they are poorly compensated and ill-equipped to serve their big rural constituencies. According to the national health ministry, just 17% of China's medical workers in 2005 were university graduates. In village clinics and township hospitals, just 2% were.

As China continues riding a long wave of prosperity, its health-care woes are under a spotlight. Medical treatment has improved greatly for many Chinese in recent times of heady growth. But the system of near-universal but basic coverage offered in the years after the Communist revolution has frayed. Opinion polls rank medical care among citizens' top concerns. Spiraling drug costs, inadequate insurance and big out-of-pocket expenses are all cause for public distress. In poor rural areas, many forgo treatment because they can't afford it.....

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125556557369186287.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1&

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Yikes!

"To keep abreast of new drugs, Ms. Mei, who lacks a medical degree, reads instructions enclosed in the boxes."

Combining the worst aspects of both communism and capitalism may not have the best results.