Health care in China

Doctor with patients at gynecology clinic at Chengdu University in China (Image: Ann Furniss, qinurse.com)

The Chinese government is struggling to provide health care to its population of 1.3 billion people.

The BBC investigates if there can be a health system which provides universal access, quality care and a healthier population at an acceptable price.

With the pressures on health spending (ageing populations, medical advances and more treatments, different diseases), is it possible to meet everyone's needs and achieve a goal of universal access while keeping costs under control?

How should a health system work? Has the world learnt any basic lessons from past triumphs and mistakes?

How does a government make sure every citizen, rich or poor, has the medical care they need? Who should employ doctors and nurses and run hospitals and clinics? The taxpayer or the private sector?

Jill McGivering travels to China to see how this fast changing country is providing health care to a population of 1.3 billion people.

Under Mao Tse-tung, the country used a basic but effective network of so-called "barefoot doctors". But since the introduction of sweeping economic reforms in the past two decades, everything has changed.

The reforms have brought new wealth but the collapse of many local clinics and free services mean that poorer families simply can't afford health care and serious illness can bankrupt them.

The Chinese government is now struggling to fill the gap, pouring millions of dollars into safety-net schemes.

But is it doing enough and what can it learn from the struggles in the developed world?

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