The Chinese Health Care - Essay Example

The Chinese Health Care Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Brief history of Chinese health care 3 Challenges facing health care in China 6 Steps the Chinese government is taking to improve health care 9 Recommendation 13 Conclusion 14 Introduction Health care is the discovering, preventing, curing and managing of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well being, through the services provided by the medical and allied health professionals. Health care is essential for the growth of every countries economy. It is the most factor determining promotion of general health, and the well being of many people around the world. Health care in china particularly has taken great development since its conception, and it is still improving up to now. Brief history of Chinese health care China has been continuously implementing and improving health care systems for its people, which help to provide care to every member of the nation. They focus more on preventive medicines rather than curative ones, and this reduces much of the involvement in treatment. This seems to be promising as life expectancy has been increasing significantly. China has involved several bodies in its bid to distribute health care to individuals, both in the rural and urban areas. They have distributed health care facilities all over the country and sent medical practitioners to take the services to those even in the rural. They divided health care in the rural into different sections, so as to reach every individual and offer them the best attention required. Sensitization rallies have been arranged regularly so as to enlighten the people on the need for good health, and the effects of poor health care1. The sensitization and mass action has helped fight some diseases and eliminate them fully. One main challenge however, which developed in china during the time of improving its health care is the recognition of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) virus. It became a major threat to health and to them, and later it became a world threat. Since then, the cure for AIDS has become a worldwide concern. During the 1980s, deaths caused by industrialization factors were very high because industrialization had improved in China. Some of the diseases which caused death included cerebrovascular disease and heart disease. Below is a diagram of how the Chinese government is encouraging preventive measures against some diseases, especially epidemic diseases in their process of ensuring health standards are maintained to the required levels. The practitioners below are giving children a vaccine against malaria. Retrieved on March 4, 2013 from, www.asiahealthcareblog.com This prompted the Chinese to increase medical facilities as well as the practitioners. Medical institutions were increased and the number of those who joined also increased drastically. Due to the need for better and improved health care, the cost for the transformation resulted to increase in the cost of accessing medical treatment. Many poor citizens were not able to access the medication because the number of physicians who were sent to the rural areas also became reduced, and the financial burden fell on the hospitals and community health centers2. In some situations, it amounted to bad debts. However, at the time of post-Mao era of modernization, the rural zones were ordered to get used to the changing health care environment. As the economy continued to grow due to agriculture, many citizens were getting more income and demanded improved medical care. This meant western medicine continued to gain acceptance, despite the strong promotion of the practice of Chinese traditional medicine. The two combinations of health care have been working jointly, although there has been some disagreements since the two groups have different interests. Many western treatment trainees do not accept the traditional treatment and term it as only a cure for minor and milder side effects3. However, this is not the case as traditional medicines could also be used to cure chronic diseases such as appendicitis. Due to this improved care, population in china increased very much and efforts to distribute them well are failing4. They had to introduce birth control programs, which worked and helped to reduce the population even to date. The population decreased so much that, when you give birth currently you are paid. All the same, health care in china has greatly improved. Challenges facing health care in China Development of a new health care system in line with social development- Despite the fact that China has undergone several transitions in its bid to improve health care, there is still a challenge of developing a system that will meet the needs of a socialist market economy. This has majorly prompted the reform of the old Medicare system, and currently many people in china are covered by the new system which only covers the basic medical needs for the city workers5. Concern for the Medicare of people in underdeveloped areas- Due to the fading away of the cooperative health care system which used to benefit many rural habitats, there is a great concern on how to develop or restore a system which will be of help to the people. As developments increased in china, this meant more costs were being incurred thus limiting the amount of financial resources available to the government to harmonize health care provision in all areas. Double disease burden widens the gap between urban and rural people-The government of china is putting more effort in improving Medicare, but the variation in disease model is posing a great threat to them6. People living in towns have developed new disease models besides the HIV/AIDS epidemic and which include cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and also psychological problems. Those in remote areas stricken by poverty, are still struggling with some epidemics which have not yet been eliminated and some gynaopathies and children’s diseases are rioting up to now due to the unhygienic sanitation and anti-ecological environment. The differences in development of rural and urban areas create a huge gap in public health services, and this exerts huge pressure to the developing Medicare system in china. Threat from new diseases like HIV/AIDS- AIDS is a disease of major concern in China as it is majorly affecting the youths of between15 to 49, and this influences the economic growth rate negatively. The attack of HIV/AIDS on the young and middle aged is greatly reducing work force. In addition, it lays a burden on society and brings many other social problems. Bridging the gap difference between the rich and the poor-The gap between the poor and the rich in China is widening day in day out. This means that, the rich will continue accessing quality health care facilities while the poor will continue languishing in poverty forever. The government of China has been majorly concentrating on trimming this gap level at the expense of citizens’ health care. This illustration demonstrates how the poor are suffering in hospitals due to lack of good health care in China; Retrieved on March 4, 2013 from, www.thejakartaglobe.com A graph illustrating the percentage of grownups with no health insurance covers between 2000 and 2008; Insufficient health care workforce- This is mainly contributed by the high rate of deaths among the youths and middle aged people who can offer productive services to the nation. The medical practitioners are also few and the citizens are reluctant to enroll for the course. Furthermore, the government is complaining of lack of enough funds to employ enough workforce. Sex education, contraception, and women’s health- In china, sex education is so much behind due to cultural conservatism. The Chinese feel that, education on sex matters should be within biological science. Also, the movement of the young unmarried women to the cities in vast numbers, and lack of knowledge on contraception has led to increased abortion rate. Steps the Chinese government is taking to improve health care The government is aiming at providing equal education on disease prevention and control, health care for children and females, importance of donating blood to emergency casualties and methods of controlling the rate of giving birth to both city and rural habitats. Efforts will be put to further raise the hygiene of urban and rural residents, and to manage all types of pollution. Ensuring food hygiene and cleanliness at work places and learning institutions is strengthened. Medical treatment will majorly dwell on non profit medical organizations, with state run hospitals playing the main role and commercial hospitals improving in a complementary manner. The services in rural areas will be very much improved, with county-level hospitals being more targeted. Big hospitals in urban areas must provide long term assistance to county-level hospitals, on the basis of usage of the current technology in medication and individual training in the provision of first aid services7. The government has to allocate more funds to the health care system, so as to facilitate development in the sector. The money will aid in purchasing more medicines, recruiting more medical practitioners, facilitating the movement of the practitioners and the medicine to the rural areas and financing sensitization programs in the country.The graph below shows how expendure in china on health care has increased gradually; The diagram above shows a Chinese doctor on a sensitization campaign to fight against malaria. Retrieved on March 4, 2013 from www.worldtbday.org The government should also look for means of preventing further, the increase of the deadly virus among the people and work more on reducing the effects of the disease on those already affected. The traditional medicines will play a wider part in preventing and controlling of diseases, and in taking care of urgent health matters. A comprehensive medical insurance system will be set, and composed of basic medical insurance for city employers and workers, basic medical insurance for urban citizens including children and unemployed and a new rural cooperative medical care scheme which should cover 90% of the population .The insurance system is meant to cover major diseases as well as minor ones. Commercial medical care insurance will also be established to cover individual needs. A drug supply system is also set to be established to facilitate protection of the drugs and equitable supply of the basic ones. This system advertises the necessary drugs which are manufactured and sent to different destinations, under control and supervision of the state. This scheme only takes care of all listed drugs to sufficiently give access to a variety of basic medicines, and to lower quality constraints and hinder manufacturers and business people from circumventing the state’s price controls8. The changes contribute to development of a new health care system to deal with community health matters which might help lower medical expenses and give more quality service. The graph below shows the importance as well as the impact of health care reforms to organizations; Recommendation A country should first identify its areas of weakness when it wants to kick off the fight against poor health care. These challenges will enable the government to move a further step in looking for the solutions to them, and how effective the solutions can be implemented. The government will then involve stakeholders and other interested parties to help raise funds to deal with the challenges. In general, every individual should contribute towards eradication of poor health care in the country, by being actively involved in the various programs of improving health care. The health reforms the Chinese government is making will progressively propel the country ahead, and facilitate growth of the other sectors of the economy. When the nation is healthy, the economy is also healthy and the nation grows significantly9. Conclusion Health and economy go hand in hand. For economy to grow, the nation has to be healthy. It is the dream of every country to have better health care services so as to save its citizens against high mortality and infection rates. Medical sector is one of the most involving sectors in terms of time, labor and money, and it requires self devotion and volunteering. Though costly it may be, it is a rewarding sector once effected. Thus, the government and all the other able and interested parties should unite to improve health services in the world. 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