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Turnaround in China`s Health Policies? |
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Lincoln C. Chen and A.K. Shiva Kumar |
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Strong recognition of the growing inaccessibility and inequities in health, rising medical costs, insufficient health financing and weaknesses in public health management have prompted the Chinese Government to take a fresh look at expanding health security and ensuring universal health coverage. This paper discusses the slowing down of health gains in China and the responses contemplated by the Chinese Government to reverse the trends. Debates today are centred not so much on whether something must be done to expand health security, but on how, when and to what effect. The policy challenge before China, like India, is for the State to find effective ways of channelling economic growth into ensuring health for all in a marketdriven economy. How China achieves this will be instructive to all societies that face similar challenges. |
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