Premier supports medical partnerships to share resources

2017-04-15
english.gov.cn/ifeng.com

The State Council executive meeting on April 12 decided to establish and develop medical institutional partnerships and implement related major tasks in this year’s government work report.

The meeting, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, was about progressing medical institutional partnerships and providing people better healthcare services.

How to carry out healthcare reform and satisfy the demands of common people has long been a concern of Premier Li and this government.

At a teleconference on medical reform in 2013, the Premier urged the government and department at all levels to provide basic healthcare for people.

When he visited the First Hospital affiliated to Henan University of Science and Technology in Henan province in 2015, the Premier said that health is the basis of happiness, life is equal and everyone should have access to health insurance.

Although China has achieved many medical achievements in recent years, and even surpassed developed countries in several fields, the country’s services can still be difficult and expensive for common people.

One reason is the unbalanced distribution of China’s medical resources.

Most quality resources are concentrated in central and big cities, while ordinary ones usually were allocated to grassroots levels.

The other reason is the lack of effective medical payment system for the poor. As a result, some can’t find satisfying health services or end up with high medical fees.

To targeted these problems, the government is expanding the coverage of medical insurance, while paying more attention to healthcare institutions at the grassroots level to balance the medical resources.

The medical institution partnerships aim to address the supply and demands of China’s medical resources, and help people find the most suitable healthcare services. It could help balance the medical resources, and improve family doctor services.