Addressing the shortage of health professionals in rural China: issues and progress Comment on "Have health human resources become more equal between rural and urban areas after the new reform?".

Addressing the Shortage of Health Professionals in Rural China: Issues and Progress; Comment on “Have Health Human Resources Become More Equal between Rural and Urban Areas after the New Reform?”

Maldistribution of health professionals between urban and rural areas has been a serious problem in China. Urban hospitals attract most of the health professionals with serious shortages in rural areas. To address this issue, a number of policies have been implemented by the government, such as free medical education in exchange for obligatory rural service.

Have Health Human Resources Become More Equal Between Rural and Urban Areas after the New Reform?

The lack of health human resources is a global issue. China also faces the same issue, in addition to the equity of human resources allocation. With the launch of new healthcare reform of China in 2009, have the issues been improved? Relevant data from China Health Statistical Yearbook and a qualitative study show that the unequal allocation of health human resources is getting worse than before.

A Response to the Commentary Entitled: “Addressing the Shortage of Health Professionals in Rural China: Issues and Progress”

Have health human resources become more equal between rural and urban areas after the new reform?

The lack of health human resources is a global issue. China also faces the same issue, in addition to the equity of human resources allocation. With the launch of new healthcare reform of China in 2009, have the issues been improved? Relevant data from China Health Statistical Yearbook and a qualitative study show that the unequal allocation of health human resources is getting worse than before.

A response to the commentary entitled: "Addressing the shortage of health professionals in rural China: issues and progress".

The principal problems of healthcare services in China are “difficulty in seeing a doctor” and “high expense of getting medical service” (commonly known in Chinese as “kan bing nan, kan bing gui”). The central Chinese government has already launched the bottom-up cascading medical system and two-way referral system recently in order to solve these problems (1). Only when patients go to medical ...