China’s rural health services provided a model for the rest of the world during the 1970s. Since then, China has been undergoing a shift to a market economy. This has had a radical impact on the health sector.
Services in poor areas are showing signs of decline with costs rising, fewer people able to afford services, and preventive programmes starting to deteriorate. This has prompted experiments with new ways of financing and organising health services. These could offer valuable lessons and ideas to planners and policy makers who face similar problems in other countries.
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