Success of reform in hands of doctors

Medical service providers play a bigger role in ensuring the success of reform than the amount of money the government spends on the issue, a senior health official said yesterday.

Huang Jiefu, vice-minister of health and a member of the CPPCC National Committee, urged the country's 6 million medical professionals to experiment with reform on their own rather than waiting for the government to dictate policy.

"Under the framework highlighting the government's leading role and the need for reform efforts to emphasize the quality of public service, a bottom-up approach would make sense, since no single plan can remedy all of the problems plaguing the healthcare system," he said.