Ningbo healthcare reform makes progress, says Vice Health Minister

Details

Category: Governmental News

Published: Monday, 02 April 2012 13:07

Liu Qian, Vice Minister of Health, affirmed the achievements Ningbo has made in healthcare reform during an inspection tour in Ningbo last Friday.

The rapid economic and social development in recent years boosted the development of medical and health services in Ningbo. The municipal government has attached great importance to the healthcare reform. In order to meet the growing needs of the urban and rural residents, the government issued a series of policies and measures to promote primary health care system, the new rural cooperative medical system and maternal and child health care.

Liu Qian said that the healthcare reform aims to protect the interests of patients and improve the efficiency of the public medical institutions. The reform will motivate the working staff in hospitals while making best use of the existing medical resources. On the surface, the reform is to address the current problems such as shortage of hospitals and high medical costs. In essence, it aims to enhance the level of medical care. To promote the reform, governments at all levels have to increase their financial input and form a new health management and operation mechanism. Therefore, the healthcare reform should be started from the grassroots level. To effectively bring down health care cost, a drug pricing system and a primary health care compensation mechanism need be established.

He added that there is still a long way to go in reforming healthcare system in China