If China is no longer the sick man of Asia in economic and political terms, the same cannot be said of its population's physical health. Rates of chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease are growing fast, while medical services are too expensive and inefficient. Mainland officials and international experts hope long-awaited health care reforms will slow the spread of non-communicable diseases, which cause 80 per cent of all deaths.
The reform plan, which is aimed at creating a 'Healthy China by 2020', was unveiled recently to a mixed response. Officials have revealed ambitious statements for better primary care but critics say details are scarce, and the reform document is too complicated for the man in the street.
World Health Organisation assistant director general Ala Alwan warned in a policy seminar in Beijing last month that non-communicable diseases were undermining social and economic development globally. The seminar, organised by the health ministry, the WHO and the World Bank, discussed the way forward in controlling non-communicable diseases on the mainland.
The central government hopes that, by 2010, 90 per cent of the population will be covered by medical insurance, and 80 per cent of grass-roots clinics covered by a supply of basic medicine under government price controls. The ultimate goal is to provide universal health care services by 2020.
Dr Alwan urged the central government to take action to deal with the inadequacies in the health care system.
'We have to make sure that people, particularly poor people, have access to the basic intervention for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases,' Dr Alwan said in an interview.
'We would be happy to see these programmes financed by the government to improve the coverage. There should be selected cost-effective programmes financed through government subsidies or social insurance systems. In many countries, these have been undertaken for a very long time.'
