China Health Policy Roundtable - 'Access to Basic Health Care Services'
BEIJING, MAY 2006
The China Health Policy Roundtable on ‘Access to Basic Health Care Services’ took place on the 11 and 12 May 2006 in Beijing. This meeting was the final in a series of three Roundtables established under the auspices of the Memorandum of Understanding between the China Ministry of Health and the George Institute for International Health.
Around fifty participants from public, private and the non-profit sector, including senior delegates from the Chinese Government dedicated the meeting to discussing the key components of basic health care services in China. Notable delegates included HAN Qide, the President of Peking University, and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee for the National People’s Congress. Jim Tulloch, the Principal Health Advisor to AusAID officially opened the 2006 Roundtable meeting.
The Roundtable series aims to bring international health experts from the public and private sectors together with senior representatives from the Chinese Ministry of Health and other government departments to discuss and examine health policy issues for China with the aid of international case-studies and research.
The 2006 Roundtable meeting included bilingual discussions and simultaneous interpretation for all participants throughout the two-day discussion. The four main sessions centered on:
Financing for Basic Health Care Services in China:
- The Role of the Government; and
- The Role of the Insurance;
Delivery of Basic Health Care Services in China:
- The Role of Health Service Providers; and
- The Management of Pharmaceuticals.
These sessions were followed by a key, final interactive ‘policy forum’, in which policy recommendations are distilled from the debate so far and drafted together in the group.
The meeting this year generated an intense debate on the challenges facing China in relation to basic health care services and delegates spent much of the time between sessions also discussing the issues.
The key discussion areas of the meeting and included:
- A ‘Whole of Government’ Approach to Health reform
- Challenges for Financing Basic Health Care Services;
- Options for a Basic Health Care Package;
- Developing a National Drug Policy;
- Resource Allocation for Basic Health Care Services; and
- A Framework for Safe and Cost-effective Basic Health Care Services.
The George Institute has also worked in collaboration with members of an International Reference Group, and prepared a policy report and recommendations based on the meeting outcomes. The report will be presented to the Ministry of Health for their consideration, and it is hoped to positively influence the health policy reform agenda in China.
Following the 2005 Roundtable meeting on ‘Health Care Safety in China’ and the presentation of the policy report to the Ministry of Health, the State Council of China which is similar to the Cabinet Office established a National Safety Council to coordinate the national health care safety agenda. The Institute believes that this is evidence of the positive effect this agreement for Health Policy Roundtables has had and will continue to have on health reform in China. Similarly it is evidence to support the approach taken in these discussions of providing international case-studies and practical experience for Chinese health-policy makers to consider and then apply and implement themselves in a way which will be most effective for the situation facing China currently.
Finally, the George Institute would like to acknowledge the generous sponsors of the 2006 Roundtable
- AusAID, Australia
- The George Foundation, Australia
- HLSP Ltd, United Kingdom
- Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd, China
- QANTAS Airways, Australia
- Joint Commission International, USA
- World Health Organization, Switzerland
- UnitedHealthcare International, Asia