The State Council passed in principle in Beijing on Wednesday a
special program on the construction and development of the
country's rural health care system, along with other measures aimed
at easing the economic burden of the country's 900 million
farmers.
According to an executive meeting of the State Council, the
forming and implementation of the program will be taken as a
primary governmental step in gradually improving the health service
conditions in rural areas and the country's capabilities to that
effect so that the health service for the farmers may be lifted
gradually and effectively.
Chinese governments at all levels should put the development of
the health service in rural areas atop their working agendas and
view it as a major task in the construction of a new socialist
countryside, said the meeting.
According to some experts, the construction of the new socialist
countryside is an essential requirement for building a harmonious
socialist society, achieving social fairness and justice and making
the benefits of economic and social development available to all
people.
Medical and health services in rural areas, the meeting said,
can hardly meet the basic health needs of the farmers.
"It has become a problem facing the country's current economic
and social development process," it said.
The meeting pointed out that the construction should be based on
the real conditions of different rural areas and adhere to the
principles of increasing investment and deepening related
reforms.
The State Council pledged to, by 2010, establish a rural health
service network with a basically complete infrastructure, a
professional rural service force and an effectively operating
management system which could ensure farmers enjoy primary health
care services.
A major job the country should do during the implementation of
the program, the meeting said, is to set up a mechanism to
safeguard the steady investment in rural health projects, in which
both central and local governments should be encouraged to
participate in.
The reform of the rural health service management mechanism
should be deepened, it said.
Resources of county-level health institutions should be further
integrated and the layout of township clinics be readjusted
accordingly, it said.
More effective ways of running rural health service may be
explored and social forces and individuals encouraged to take part
in the service, it said.
According to the meeting, the country will train, guide and
encourage more health workers and college students to seek jobs in
rural clinics and organize medical staff from urban hospitals to
offer services or technological guidance for those in the
countryside.
With all the measures, the meeting said, "The farmers can expect
safe, effective, convenient and low-cost health service."
(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2006)