Worldwide Healthcare
Awareness Team
全球卫生行动小组
Leadership in China Vs. America: How Leaders Affect Healthcare
By: Eric Best
When the drug epidemic in China became too rampant, the Chinese government decided to double down on their war on drugs which didn’t seem to help the problem. At the time, President Xi Jinping saw this as a fervent position to stand their ground regardless of the overdose rates but all that happened were correlative spikes in drug crimes, drug arrests and monetary integrity of the Chinese black market. China has since made efforts to greatly reduce opioid and alcohol dependence through public subsidy of drugs and programs that help to fight addiction. The government has even helped to subsidize numerous private treatment centers that have garnered crucially beneficial results. Since leadership in the People’s republic of China have made positive concessions to help fix the drug crisis, they have been in a much more confident footing on containing the epidemic.
Leadership: How is Substance Abuse Handled in China?
By: Bianna Koutsenko
Substance abuse is handled very strictly in China. It was said that “According to the Drug Policy Alliance, China adheres strictly to its zero tolerance stance on drug use. By some conservative estimates, China executes between 2,000 and 15,000 people a year for assorted drug offenses.” The citizens of China are well aware that there is a drug problem, and the country considers drugs a capital crime, and the punishments are brutal when it comes to being caught. It was said that “…. China’s Supreme People’s Court argued that serious drug crimes merit the death penalty.” I found this very interesting because the death penalty is usually assigned to murderers, or killers, not drug addicts, or dealers. Dealing drugs can ruin an innocent life, and I found this interesting because people choose to take drugs, but people who distribute them are being charged at a high level. Many times, people like to go against the rules, and will do anything to break rules. China is so strict when it comes to drugs, so people have to sneak around more, and clearly the effort to combat substance abuse is not enough.
Statistics say that “….drug crimes more than doubled from 2006-2011, with the number of cases increasing from 31,350 to 69,751.” There is an effort to combat substance abuse but it does not seem as though it is enough. Research says that “after spending trillions on the “war on drugs” and arresting millions, there’s been little impact on rates of drug addiction. China’s own “war on drugs” may be doomed to follow the same fruitless path.” Leaders need to start changing their ways and methods of approach if they are seriously trying to slow the crime rates. The punishments they have for drug users are cruel, and leave offenders fearful of being caught, but they need to make more approaches when it comes to catching offenders.
Leaders in China endorsed an operation called "ban drugs in hundreds of cities." Since drugs like Heroin are commonly used in China because Heroin is cheap, and is one of the most addictive drug in the world. People die from heroin, and if it is not stopped soon then more lives with be taken. Leaders need to have searches that are unwarranted, and unannounced so they can find illegal substances. “In a five-month crackdown last year, the police were said to have “totally uncovered” 50,827 drug cases, arrested 56,989 suspects and seized 26.5 tons of drugs, an increase in seizures of 126.8 percent over the same period a year earlier.” Clearly there is improvement but none enough for a nation so big.
Works Referenced
Donatello, J. (2011, April 11). The World's Scariest Places to be Busted For Drugs. Retrieved
July 17, 2017, from https://www.thefix.com/content/worst-places- be-caught- drugs?page=all
Levin, D. (2015, January 24). Despite a Crackdown, Use of Illegal Drugs in China Continues
Unabated. Retrieved July 17, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/world/despite-a-
crackdown-use- of-illegal- drugs-in- china-continues- unabated.html
Tiezzi, S. (2015, May 29). China's Growing Drug Problem. Retrieved July 17, 2017
from http://thediplomat.com/2015/05/chinas-growing- drug-problem/
Leadership: Healthcare Equity and Economics in China
By: Meghan Paulus
In recent years, the cost of Healthcare around the world has reached an all-time high. China’s healthcare situation is no different as many citizens are expected to pay astronomical fees for hospital visits and procedures. Not to mention that in addition to these fees, many must travel far from their homes to receive treatment. Health equity is one of the main issues with the Chinese health care system today. However, with so much money being funneled into health care, how are citizens not seeing the benefits? Leadership in China is better than most when it comes to healthcare. There is an agreement that every citizen is entitled to receive basic health care benefits, many countries do not even receive that sort of coverage. This type of system includes access to government run facilities with the use of publicly financed health insurance. Spending on this form of health care reached 992 billion USD in 2014. (Fang, H.) The vast amount that China spends on healthcare is necessary for the 1.4 billion citizens that call the nation home. Publicly financed insurance is generally covered by employee payroll taxes and includes minor doctor visits, hospital visits and minor procedures. Private or commercial insurance does exist in China, which covers gaps in public insurance and any other expenses one would have to pay. However, data shows that only higher income individuals will opt for another insurance plan since there are many in China are of working class status who cannot afford more coverage. China’s economy as a whole has become much more developed in the past decades, following the ages of technology and accessibility which improved globalization around the world, the country has enjoyed much of the splendors of a developed economy. With an improved economy, the progress on health care development has risen as well. Still many less fortunate are forced to deal with fundamental issues with the current system. (Chelala, C.) Especially in rural China where much is left untouched by the government. Still, development of the commercial insurance market is encouraged by the government.
In addition to being unable to afford extra coverage, many in China must travel to find adequate health services. China is a large and sparse land mass in the middle of central Asia. There are many areas of the nation that do not have clinics, hospitals, or even clean water simply because they are in a very rural setting. This disproportion in services is known as healthcare disparity. The uneven resources found across the nation in China is a cause for many of the issues that have arisen with healthcare. Moreover, many who are sick, either mentally or physically, will not be able to work or travel to an advanced hospital to receive or pay for treatment. Many doctors would not be able to make a living on the people that live in these areas so many do not open clinics very far outside the city either. So many of these people must pay expenses for travel and stay in the hospitals they visit. Furthermore, many advanced procedures require money up front so if one cannot afford to have a procedure done, even if a condition is life threatening, many will not be able to have it done.
One of the biggest reasons that healthcare spending has increased so drastically in the first place has to do with the steep rise in medical service costs. The advanced technology that has been advancing China’s economy had made its way to the medical field, but public insurance is still far behind in offering full coverage for these advanced medical machines and procedures. The economy has also only been sustaining market based practices. The once communist nation enjoyed many benefits of universal healthcare in the 1950’s but when the nation switched to a market based economy, health care disparity became rampant quickly. While China enjoys groundbreaking decreases in mortality and infection the infrastructure is crumbling under the massive amount of pressure coming from the population. By advocating for more private and commercial based insurance and medical services while many cannot afford to acquire these services, the government cannot improve the system.
Chinese leaders have made great advances with health care in the last twenty years. Many citizens were happy with the reforms made to the health care system already. Health outcomes are better for those who can afford treatment and the rate of infection and mortality rates have been lowered as well. However, there are many citizens, especially in rural areas who do not have access to the care they need. Leaders should work towards promoting a health care system that rewards patient outcomes rather than profits so that major change can come to the citizens of China. Economically, the government spends 5.6% of its GDP on health care alone. However, this is not enough to expand the healthcare budget and bring healthcare equity to the people who need it the most. Since the 1980’s leaders have started to focus on investing in the nation’s health which is paying off but simply not enough. It is expected that almost 9% of China’s GDP will go towards healthcare in 2035 with China’s ever developing economy. (Fang, H.). Still health care costs are growing at rates of 5 to 10 percent more than the rate of China’s GDP income. (World Bank.) Leadership wise China is heading in the right direction. Many are focused on bettering the health care system. President Xi Jinping has even been working with other nations to create a better health plan for his citizens. (Powell, A.) If China’s government and leaders what their investments to pay off, they will need to make sure the money goes to expanding and improving the nation’s health insurance and infrastructure. This means that many doctors or clinics must be funded, health care insurance must expand to cover more advanced procedures, and disparity will need to be diminished so that those with lower incomes and rurally based residences can access health care quickly and affordably wherever they are in the nation.
Works Referenced
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Chelala C. (2013, April 27). China's Move to Improve Health Care. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from https://www.theglobalist.com/chinas-move-to-improve-health-care/
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Fang H. (2015). International Health Care System Profiles. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from http://international.commonwealthfund.org/countries/china/
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Powell A. (2011, September 22). Improving health care in China, U.S. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/09/improving-health-care-in-china-u-s/
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World Bank. (2015). Healthy China: Deepening Health Reform in China. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/publication/healthy-china-deepening-health-reform-in-china
Team Written Articles on Leadership
Leadership: Healthcare Control in Chinese Government
By: John Neyman
Currently in China the central government has control over the nation's health legislation, policy and administration. This may sound familiar because it is very similar to our policy here in the United States. Though China’s healthcare system seems as if it has many more flaws than ours. Citizens in china are supposedly entitled to receive their basic health care needs, provided by the local government, county or town. There are two major health authorities, the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the local Health and Family Planning Commission, these committees supervise and organize the delivery of China’s health care and its providers. Though unfortunately this is mainly for hospitals. This is where you can see the biggest flaw in their system. Health care providers that are not larger hospitals, basically in rural areas at the county and town level, have very limited flexibility when it comes to carrying out provincial health policies. That being said there is currently a divide between the qualities of healthcare in urban hospitals vs. rural hospitals. Luckily the government and leaders of China are fully aware of the crisis at hands and have been making many improvements over the past decade that have definitely made a difference in the quality of healthcare and are only getting better. Leaders plan to bridge the gap between urban and rural health care. They plan to do so by providing training for rural doctors in the urban hospitals as well as require new medical graduates to work to work in rural health facilities. Though there are still disparities in China’s health care system, it is undeniable that actions are being made in order fix the problems at hand, and in time will hopefully have a positive outcome.
References
Leadership: Past and Present Challenges and Reforms to China's Healthcare System
By: Erin McGrane
In 2009, China announced a 10 year long plan to increase healthcare access with an ambitious goal to achieve universal coverage by 2020. Since the launch of this goal, China has managed some impressive strides in improving healthcare: In 2003 the percentage of the population with access to healthcare was at a low 30 percent, but has since grown to encompass 95 percent of China’s population that now has access to basic insurance. Out-of-pocket spending for health related expenses has significantly reduced which will encourage individuals to seek primary care for ailments that would previously be left unseen due to an inability to pay for the service. This goes hand in hand with a reduced prevalence of cases of infectious diseases and an increased life expectancy overall.
The numbers may sound impressive but there is still a lot of room left for further improvement because even though most the population has access to healthcare insurance, the coverage is not enough to make healthcare services affordable for the majority of families. The focus now needs to shift from providing minimal coverage to everyone, to providing actual effective coverage to keep healthcare costs down. An additional problem remains in that the majority of China’s health services are occurring in hospitals instead of routine services, like basic checkups and sick visits, being allocated to primary care facilities. This creates a strain on both hospital services staff who are overcrowded and busy thus reducing the quality of care, and patients who have to pay a greater amount of out-of-pocket finances to cover the pricey hospital fees.
Looking to the future, China also faces an upcoming new series of difficulties to address in future reforms. The first of these difficulties is the rapidly increasing aging population, which means that the elderly population is increasing much faster and is greater in population than the working-age population who are needed to take care of them. Related to this, there is also an increase in the rate of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer, which are harder to treat and a much bigger toll on the insurance companies and the economy as a whole. These factors present new challenges on healthcare which must be taken care of soon. To start addressing this, the country’s health officials has begun programs to focus on prevention of chronic diseases. In addition, a focus on continuing to grow the economy is necessary to make sure the population will be able to cover the costs of healthcare expenses.
References
Report Recommends Deeper Healthcare Reforms in China. (2016, July 22). Retrieved July 17, 2017, from http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/07/22/report-recommends-deeper-healthcare-reforms-in-china
Kaneda, T. (2006, June). China's Concern Over Population Aging and Health. Retrieved July 17, 2017, from http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2006/ChinasConcernOverPopulationAgingandHealth.aspx