International Health Care Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Health Care - Assignment Example Also there are many â€Å"barefoot doctors" that are working for the health care of citizens. All these policies that are being implemented in China are in accordance to the Mao’s initial ‘prevention first’ health policy. During Mao’s era the healthcare was taken as an utmost priority (W & Sidel, 1977 ). China did a surveillance to check for any social inequities in the healthcare system (W & Sidel, 1977 ). Few inequities were found as a result of the surveillance and these inequities seemed difficult to resolve. But the authorities figured out that the health care responds directly to the demonstrated needs of citizens. The surveillance also helped China in activation of political will and community participation among the public because it provided realistic information for local, district and national decision-makers (W & Sidel, 1977 ). This activation of community participation was done through the famous Model County Project. This model showed how an efficiently organized system can be extended to test procedures in experimental areas and adapt them for wide-ranging achievement of specific goals. This project shows how ideological commitment to impartiality and objectiveness can improve health care. Between the early 1960s and late 1970s, China used barefoot doctors to monitor the health of locals and also to give health care to people nearby. Local health cooperatives and the barefoot doctors together, spread knowledge related to healthcare. The activities from the implementation of Model County Project showed a considerable decline of infant mortality which was 275 to 250 (CE, 1992). The general economic reform occurred in China in 1980. China shifted to privatization which reversed the earlier priority of equity. This has caused Chinese rural health care system to go through a rapid transformation. According to some researches, the modernization of China has caused its once viable model of health care system to fall apart.