Sun Zhigang: seek new breakthroughs in medical reform

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2014-06-04

Public hospital reform strives for major breakthrough

Q: Not long ago, you said that public hospital reform was a life and death matter to five key aspects of medical and health care system reform, and possibly even the entire medical reform. Why did you say that?

A: With inadequate investment for a long time, China still managed to establish a sound health care system with continuous technology improvment. The country has ranked among the top in average life expectancy and infant and maternal mortalities in the developing world thanks to its public hospitals and medical professionals. Public hospitals are home to the country’s main quality medical and health care resources, and play an important role in China’s medical and health care development and protecting people’s health.

With the shift from planned economy to market economy, the previous policy of compensating hospital cost by selling drugs has evolved into a profit-seeking mechanism, which increasingly weakens the public-welfare nature of public hospitals and is undermining public interests. Excessive prescriptions and treatment, abuse of antibiotics, unreasonable medical checks and a blind eye to costs have pumped up medical expenditure and strained the doctor-patient relationship. In the long run, it will be detrimental to the health of the whole Chinese nation and endanger social harmony and stability. We’re in urgent need of reform to gradually solve the outstanding problems of public hospitals.

The reform achievements over the past two years have created favorable conditions for public hospital reform. At present, the public basic health insurance system is taking shape. The essential drugs system has been carried out at 60 percent of government-funded medical institutions at community level, significantly bringing down medical expenses. Construction of a medical and health service system at community level has enhanced to improve equalization of the basic public health services.

Although public hospital reform has made some progress, there’s much to be desired. If public hospital reform fails, it will be difficult to consolidate and build on the first four reform achievements. Therefore, public hospital reform is a life and death matter to the medical and health care system reform in five key aspects. We will strive to make major breakthroughs in public health reform this year and establish a basic path for reform.