Health in China

rdf:langString Health in China

rdf:langString Health in China over the course of the twentieth century has gone from being a largely private and family concern, using traditional medicine, to being a major concern of the state as well. Beginning in 1905, the Qing dynasty established the first Department of Health. The Republic of China after 1912 moved to expand public health measures and to control and license medical doctors. Governments debated the value of Chinese traditional or "folk" medicine, and moved toward Western healthcare models, especially after the Chinese Nationalist Party came to power in 1928 and during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). China's health system has undergone basic changes since the Chinese Communist Revolution and declaration of the People's Republic of China in 1949. From 1949 until 1976, the Ministry of Health in Beijing and provincial ministries set policy and supported medical training, but primary responsibility for health care and public health lay with the work-unit, that is, the factory, government unit, commune, or school, to one of which every citizen was to belong. Mao Zedong focused efforts on increasing primary care quality and accessibility and moved to improve rural health care with the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. A characteristic hallmark of this shift was the introduction of the rural cooperative medical scheme, in addition to "barefoot doctors" who focused on rural primary care. When Deng Xiaoping came to power, the Chinese government moved to a more privatized healthcare system. Although many health conditions afflict China for various reasons. China did attempt another healthcare system restructuring and began devoting more resources to providing medical care. With the changing healthcare system and China's economic development, typical health conditions among the Chinese population began to shift from infectious diseases to chronic conditions. For example, respiratory conditions arise due to the high levels of air pollution, and the lack of effective water sanitation can cause intestinal issues. In addition, Hepatitis B is considered to be a pandemic in China, due to its abnormally high prevalence there in comparison to other countries. Finally, smoking-related illnesses are also common in China. China's demographics can also give a glimpse to the health of a country's population. Examining the demographics reveals a high dependency ratio, meaning there are more dependents than there are working age individuals who can care for others. This can partially be attributed to the one-child and two-child policies, which have limited how many children Chinese couples can have throughout the past decades. No definitive conclusions can be drawn on the health effects of the policies, but some scholars mention increased abortions as an effect. Others mention that with fewer children, Chinese families had more resources to go around and thus health conditions improved.