Source: CCTV.com

04-07-2009 15:18

China has unveiled a three-year action plan for health care reform. It's meant to lay a solid foundation for equitable and universal access to essential health care.

China has unveiled a three-year action plan for health care reform.

The government is promising universal access to basic health insurance and public health services in three years. It's allocated 850 billion yuan plan for this. The plan includes an essential medicine system and improves primary health care facilities. and pilot reform of state-run hospitals.

Zhang Mao, Vice Minister of Health, says, "the reform has set the key point of health care as a kind of public welfare. It outlines that the basic health care service will be provided for all people. The scheme has set long-term targets, and has also paid attention to current problems. It has very strong maneuverability."

To improve primary health care facilities, China will build about two thousand county-level hospitals. The goal is for each county to have at least one hospital that meets national standards.

The central government will also fund the construction and upgrading of township hospitals.3,700 community health centers and 11 thousand community health stations will be set up or upgraded in cities.

The plan says essential and universal health insurance programs will cover a growing share of the bills and ease the financial burden on every citizen.

The health insurance subsidy for unemployed urban residents and farmers will rise by 50 percent to 120 yuan per person as of next year.

China will begin to set up a national healthcare file database. And starting this year, people above 65 years old and children under three will be eligible for regular free physicals.

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Editor:Qin Yongjing