A comparison of the health systems in China and India
The world's two most populous countries, China and India, are undergoing dramatic demographic, societal, and economic transformations. However, the health status of residents of China and India still lags behind relative to other populations, and the health gains in each country have been uneve...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Santa Monica, CA
RAND, Center for Asia Pacific Policy
2008, 2008
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| Series: | Occasional paper
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| Online Access: | |
| Collection: | JSTOR Open Access Books - Collection details see MPG.ReNa |
| Summary: | The world's two most populous countries, China and India, are undergoing dramatic demographic, societal, and economic transformations. However, the health status of residents of China and India still lags behind relative to other populations, and the health gains in each country have been uneven across subpopulations. Although they have achieved substantial advances in life expectancy and disease prevention since the middle of the 20th century, the Chinese and Indian health systems provide little protection against financial risk, and patient satisfaction is a lower priority than it should be. This paper compares the health systems of China and India to determine what approaches to improving health in these two countries do and do not work. In particular, the authors compare the health systems in China and India along three dimensions: policy levers, intermediate outcomes, and ultimate ends. The authors conclude that both countries must (1) restructure health care financing to reduce the burden of out-of-pocket medical care costs on individual patients; (2) increase access to care, especially in rural areas; (3) reduce dependence on fee-for-service contracts that promote overutilization of medical care; (4) build capacity for addressing and monitoring emerging diseases; and (5) match hospital capabilities with local needs |
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| Item Description: | Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002 |
| Physical Description: | xiii, 44 pages illustrations |
| ISBN: | 0833044834 9781282033184 1282033182 9780833044839 |