Healthcare reform has macroeconomic implications
By Peter Hilsenrath | China Daily | Updated: 2015-05-19 07:39
The nation's healthcare sector has evolved erratically since 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded.
Rural reform was an early priority and the first Five-Year Plan (1953-57) called for more hospital beds, doctors and antibiotics. It also recognized the necessity of a dual-track approach of Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine.
Later, the use of "barefoot doctors" was cultivated, receiving widespread international recognition.
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