Bangalore: China is experiencing a gigantic disease burden transition, with an extraordinary social and environmental change, reported the medical journal Lancet. The transition will not only affect the country's future but also shape the pattern of global health. Lancet wishes to act as a bridge in order to have a scientific exchange between the rapidly expanding arena of medical science in China and the rest of the world.
China's health services used to be described as too difficult to access, too expensive, and extremely variable in quality. But shockingly China has accomplished near universal coverage in a very short time. As per data from Chinese National Health Services Survey, the medical insurance coverage in China has increased from 29·7 percent in 2003, to 95·7 percent in 2011. But, the increased insurance coverage has not yet been effective in reducing patients' financial risks. Iin India, the number is very low and the health insurance market is very limited, covering only about 10 percent of the total population. It is seen that in India the total health expenditure is around 5 percent of GDP.
As a nation whose culture and society have long been formed by its farming traditions, China has just passed a landmark, with its urban population of more than 680 million people outnumbering its rural residents for the first time in January, 2012. This serves as a double-edged sword for public health in China as it not only offers great opportunities in the improvements of health-care access and basic health infrastructure, but also poses substantial risks, including changing diets and lifestyle, air and water pollution, and occupational and traffic hazards.
Growing urbanization is one of the socioeconomic risks for non-communicable disease (NCDs), which has already become China's number one health threat. Chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are often closely associated, sharing common risk factors and treatments, and hence they would benefit from a coordinated approach to prevention and control.
Whereas, as per leading public health experts concerted and coordinated efforts are necessary to address the growing social and economic burden of chronic, non-communicable disease in India. NCDs are the main cause of morbidity and mortality and are responsible for more than 63 percent of deaths in the world and make up more than two thirds of the total disease burden in India.
Also, knowledge exchange is not a one-way street. While China is learning from other countries in health-care delivery and research, it has much to share for reciprocal benefit. It is important that health-care reform is not exclusive to one country. The improvement of universal coverage, reduction in costs, and to deal with the mounting challenge of NCDs are truly global problems. China's health-reform process and solutions will provide evidence to inform debate and, ultimately, enhance global health-care outcomes
It is noted that reform of public hospitals is essential to control health expenditure because such institutes deliver more than 90 percent of the country's health services. There are pilot programmes for public hospital reforms in China.
