By 2020, life expectancy in China is set to reach an average of 77 years old with the help of full coverage of basic medical services. China's chief administrative authority stated two guidelines on improving health care and medical services in the next 5 years. The health reforms are said to overhaul current health infrastructure and financing to help reach the goal by 2020.
The comprehensive health target is part of China's "13th Five-Year Plan on Health" spanning from 2016-2020 by the State Council of China. The massive health campaign is a move aim to give answer to China's most common and challenging medical obstacles. Basically, it aims to build more hospitals and train more nursing staff to provide the increasing needs of a rapidly ageing population.
The move aims to address China's most prominent medical challenges, with more hospitals to be built and more nursing staff being trained to meet increasing the demands of a rapidly ageing population. In China, according to the GB Times, there is an obvious imbalance of medical resources between urban and rural areas, with cities taking most of the health budget. The health reform also aims to address the issue to increase life expectancy in China..
The use of traditional Chinese medicine is also highlighted as a means to cure and prevent certain common diseases. Overall, the health plan encompasses seven sectors including health level, disease control, maternal health and child care, medical services, family planning, medical service system and medical and health support. Also, the 13th Five-Year Plan wants to decrease air pollution prevalent in the country, the English says.
All in all, the massive health reform aims to achieve its goal of increasing life expectancy to 79 by 2030. Currently, China has the seventh highest life expectancy in Asia, while in the UK, middle agers suffer an unprecedented health crisis. As a comparison, during the last half-century, life expectancy in China rose from just 43 years in 1960 to 76 recently.
