China Community Health Association, an organization to beef up
the country's community clinics and assist the development of the
community health service, was set up in Beijing on Tuesday.
Vice Premier Wu Yi wrote to the inauguration ceremony that the
community health service, an important step to grant everyone the
basic health care, has made it easier for people to see doctors and
alleviated pressure from the country's shortage of hospital service
resources.
"The community heath service, with a focus on the combination of
disease prevention and treatment, enjoy great popularity among the
public due to its efficiency and low charges," Wu said.
She noted that the association is to enhance the quality of the
health service, which covers about 98 percent of Chinese cities,
with 260,000 health workers serving in more than 23,000 community
hospitals across the country.
Health Minister Chen Zhu said community health service in China
is still leagued by inadequate finance, shortage of manpower and
poor infrastructure.
Chen, a Paris-trained scientist and a member of the China Zhi
Gong (Public Interest) Party, received his new appointment last
month from the post of vice president of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, a government think-tank.
(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2007)