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$60m boost for rural healthcare

By Li Aoxue (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-21 09:23

A new $60 million, five-year rural healthcare program was launched Monday in Beijing.

The money comprises a $50 million loan from the World Bank and a nearly $10 million donation from the British government's department for international development.

Forty counties from eight agricultural provinces and municipalities in China have been chosen as pilot regions for the program.

The program will especially focus on special care for the most vulnerable group of people - women, children and the elderly.

Since 1992, when healthcare reform was introduced, the country has experienced unbalanced development between urban and rural areas.

The country's budget for rural healthcare is "still far from enough", Chen Xiaohong, vice-minister of the ministry of health, said yesterday.

"Most people suffering from AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis and schistosomiasis (a parasitic disease) are from the rural areas," Chen said.

Currently, there are about 400 million people who do not have any kind of healthcare coverage, Ministry of Health statistics show.

The country started an online nationwide campaign last week urging people to submit suggestions on healthcare reform.

Sun Zhijun, director of the department of social security at the Ministry of Finance, said she hoped the program will set an example for the rest of the country.

"The general aim is for the pilot regions to introduce their experience in rural healthcare to other parts of the country, through working with the World Bank and developed countries," Sun said.

The program is not the first time China has received international assistance to develop its rural healthcare.

In 2001, Hebi, Henan province, received a loan of $1 million from the Italian government.

Last year, medical equipment costing 160,000 yuan was donated by the World CBF insurance conference to Ya'an, Sichuan province.