It is well-known that China is the most populous country in the world, with its population excessing the number one billion three hundred million people. According to Papagianni and Tziomalos (2018), in the last few decades, China has experienced extraordinary growth in its gross domestic product, as well as prompt economic development, which, unfortunately, were followed by acute demographic problems. However, upon looking into how these problems, alongside other issues related to health care, are handled in China, one is to be pleasantly surprised, since constantly ongoing reforms tend to address the majority of them.
Health-policy making in China is difficult in and of itself – moreover, the question of ways to measure the health care system’s effectiveness has no simple answers. According to Papagianni and Tziomalos (2018), health inequalities, socio-economic inequalities, swift epidemiological transition, migration inside the country and the aging population’s growth require various solutions. Attempting to respond to challenges arising, China has embarked on major reforms to make health care services more accessible and affordable. Papagianni and Tziomalos (2018) state that these include the existing system’s modernization – for example, implementation of incentives so that the health care professionals are deployed and retained in rural areas since they are needed there. Moreover, the inclusion of essential medicines in the reimbursement of insurance costs and these medicines’ provisions was implemented, as well as a basic package of public health services. Additionally, subsidies for this package were increased, alongside reimbursement ceilings and annual premiums. There was also extensive work to strengthen insurance schemes for social health. To put it shortly, every effort was and is still made to ensure that any problem that arises is solved.
However, there are still issues that need to be tackled more thoroughly. As pointed out by Papagianni and Tziomalos (2018), social and economic changes in China have led to new patterns of nutrition and behavior. As a result, infectious diseases have been replaced by chronic degenerative diseases as the main causes of people’s deaths. Currently, 87 percent of all-cause mortality is attributed to non-communicable diseases (Papagianni and Tziomalos, 2018, p.821). Papagianni and Tziomalos (2018) state that there is a variety of conditions representing the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease among the Chinese population – one of them is dyslipidemia. Dyslipidemia is a preventable risk factor – and its prevalence in China is high, while awareness levels, control, and treatment are low (Papagianni and Tziomalos, 2018). Therefore, an effective and evidence-based plan is needed to identify and manage patients with dyslipidemia to improve the situation.
Additionally, when it comes to addressing the needs of the elderly population, some measures are to be implemented as well. Li et al. (2017) confirmed the existence of horizontal inequities, both in probability and frequency, in the provision of health services to the elderly in China. It has also been estimated that living standards matter the most in terms of unequal health services utilization, and health insurance’s impact on reducing it is limited. Thus, to ensure equity in the use of health services for older people, measures to narrow the living standards gap are to be taken and the provision of financial support to low-income groups is to be implemented.
In conclusion, the health care system in China is not perfect – but it is as excellent under given conditions as it can be. The Chinese government’s response to the problems arising through carrying out various health care reforms deserves respect and emulation. Granted, some problems need to be addressed more thoroughly – but with China’s current approach, the solution to these can be reasonably considered only a matter of time.
Works Cited
Li, Chaofan, et al. “Horizontal Inequity in Health Care Utilization among the Middle-Aged and Elderly in China.”International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 14, no. 8, 2017, 842. Web.
Papagianni, Marianthi, and Konstantinos Tziomalos. “Healthcare Reform in China: Challenges and Opportunities.” Current Medical Research and Opinion, vol. 34, 2018, pp. 821-823. Web.