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Minister: Health system in poor state
Gao revealed government contributions to hospital running costs have dropped from an average 30 percent in the 1970s and 1980s to 7.7 percent in 2000. This has forced many public health institutions to overcharge patients to turn a profit, he said. "Because the government's contribution is too low, the cost of running the hospitals have to be paid by the patients," he said in the report. "The medical fees paid by the patients are not only covering the cost of the services and medicines, but were also paying for the wages and subsidies of medical staff, new medical apparatus and hospital facilities." Between 2000 and 2003, the number of patients treated at state-run hospitals dropped 4.7 percent but these hospitals' incomes jumped 69.9 percent. The report said hospitals and doctors were being bribed by pharmaceutical companies to prescribe expensive medicines, operations and medical checks for patients. This is particularly dangerous because many of China's poorer citizens, who can barely afford the bills, simply leave illnesses untreated, which can lead to outbreaks of diseases. Citing an official national survey in 2003, the report said 48.9 percent of people who need treatment do not go to a doctor and 29.6 percent who should stay in a hospital do not because of the cost. "Our country has a population of 1.3 billion -- 22 percent of the world population -- but the medical expenditure is only two percent of the world's health expenditure," Gao said. Contagious diseases and malnutrition plague China's rural population while AIDS is also a huge and growing problem. According to the same survey, 44 percent of Chinese urban citizens and 79 percent of its rural residents have no health insurance. The ministry is currently mulling a new reform plan to overhaul the public health sector, but no details have been made public, state media have reported.
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