Chinese farmers enjoy cheap neighborhood medical service

Gu Chaoshan is exulted these days. One month ago, the 62-year-old farmer from north China''s Hebei Province felt suffocated all of a sudden, sweating and losing his breath. His son promptly dialed the town hospital. In 10 minutes, he was sent to a first-aid room, diagnosed as suffering from paroxysmal miocardial infarction, and was saved.

First-aid calls, most popular in Chinese cities, was something new to farmers in Guzhuang Village, Anzhai Township, Quzhou County.

"If I had such illness in the old days, I would have to go a long way to the county hospital," said Gu. "Nowadays, I am treated in the neighborhood in great convenience, saving a lot of money."

Glad of his recovery, Gu was often reminded of an incident 28 years ago. In 1980, his best friend in the village fell ill with the same symptoms. He died on the way to the county hospital.

"We had to send him to the county seat because the village and township had poor medical facilities," said Gu, with bitter hatred.

"For a long period, the township hospital remained shabby. The village clinic existed in name. The medical equipment was simple and outdated. The doctors were actually unqualified."

The rural healthcare system was once a core element of Chinese socialism. After the founding of the People''s Republic of China in1949, rural people had access to subsidized health clinics run by "barefoot doctors," who were basically middle-school students trained in first aid.

The primitive service, essentially free, played a role in doubling the country''s average life expectancy from 35 years in 1949 to 68 years in 1978.

When China began its economic reform in the early 1980s, the system was dismantled as the country attempted to switch to a market-oriented healthcare system. But the government failed to establish a viable substitute, leaving its large rural population without health insurance.

A national health survey in 2003 revealed about 73 percent of people in rural areas who should have sought medical treatment chose not to do so because of the fear of high costs.

China has a rural population of 737 million, accounting for 56percent of its total population. The per capita net income of farmers reached 4,140 yuan in 2007.

The plight of Chinese farmers has provoked national leaders to move to restore rural medical cooperatives and to establish a nationwide safety net of minimal medical insurance.