Leaders address healthcare woes
By Erik Nilsson (China Daily)Updated: 2006-12-06 09:29
China needs a new prescription to reform its ailing healthcare system,
according to government and business leaders.
More than 30 government
officials, CEOs and senior executives of Fortune 500 companies discussed the
challenges and proposed solutions for healthcare reform at the 30th China Daily
CEO Roundtable, "The Road Ahead for China's Healthcare Reforms," at the Grand
Hyatt Beijing on Monday.
As the second CEO Roundtable to look at
healthcare reform, the forum examined developments since last year's session as
the country moved into its 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10). The event marked the
30th anniversary of the CEO Roundtable, which has been attended by more than
1,000 government officials, CEOs and senior executives over the past
two-and-a-half years, said Zhu Yinghuang, Editor-in-chief Emeritus of China
Daily.
While many positive developments have been made in China's
healthcare system since the last forum, the delegates agreed, the country has a
long, hard road ahead.
"Healthcare reform as we all know is one of the
biggest challenges or headaches in any developing country and China is no
exception," said CEO Roundtable Honorary Co-Chairman and Managing Director of
Bayer Healthcare (China) Co Ltd Chris Lee. "When it comes to healthcare
infrastructure, there are serious issues that need to be addressed to improve
the current situation as far as improving the healthcare affordability for the
entire population."
The solutions, according to Jeffrey Li, country
president and chief representative of Novartis Overseas Investment AG and
honorary co-chairman of the CEO Roundtable, cannot come from the government
alone.
"If the government is able to get input from all the stakeholders,
they will be able to get a very balanced view of the issue," Li said. "Here, I
believe all the stakeholders also share the common goal of a long-term,
sustainable healthcare system, because this is going to be helpful to all the
businesses and individuals as well."
He said that he believes there are
many positive changes on the horizon. He pointed out that the Politburo has
organized a group to study the topic and President Hu Jintao recently declared
it is the government's responsibility to ensure the right to healthcare for all
people. The 11th Five-Year Plan, he noted, devotes an entire chapter to
healthcare reform, which is a significant expansion in focus from the 10th
Five-Year Plan.
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