China’s healthcare system is overly reliant on large, overburdened hospitals, which are likely to struggle to cope with a spike in diseases linked to the fast-aging population, the WHO said yesterday.
Even for minor ailments, Chinese patients often shun family doctors or general practitioners in favor of big city general hospitals, a trend that creates often snarling queues and fierce competition for treatment.
“As China’s health challenges ... continue to mount, with an aging population, so too will the demands on the country’s health system, along with the costs,” WHO China representative Bernhard Schwartlander said in a commentary, pointing to rising rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease. “It is simply not sustainable to meet these challenges in a health system that relies on hospitals.”
China has been trying to overhaul its healthcare system, including promoting local, grassroots medical facilities and pledging to raise the number — and quality — of local general practitioners.
However, low doctor salaries and a lack of trust by patients in local health centers has slowed progress.
The WHO pointed to long queues, difficult booking systems and tight consultation slots that often last just a few minutes.
“[It is] a symptom of the enormous patient load and pressure which doctors in China face every day,” it said.
“But this is not how things should be in a well-functioning health system,” it added.
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