Monthly Archives: January 2010

The rural life and times of China’s aging population, Part II: Caregivers and Psychologocial Outcomes

Written by Samuel. Posted on January 26, 2010. Filed under China, News Items, Public Health. 11 Comments.
Consequences of migration not only have the potential to shift rural health profiles in the short term, but will undoubtedly cause a demographic change in urban areas. Filial piety motivates families to stay together in the countryside, thus it also motivates migrated families to stay in the city. As the urban migrants begin their families, they will eventually age and remain in the city. These two trends seem to run counter to one another. The elderly parents of the migrants are likely to be left behind if their children stay in cities with their families. While some elderly will undoubtedly move to the city, the high costs of a move, both monetary and physical, as well as the regulatory complications involved (see hukous in the next instalment), will preclude the majority of elderly from doing so.

The rural life and times of China’s aging population , Part I

Written by Samuel. Posted on January 25, 2010. Filed under China, Public Health. 11 Comments.
The New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) has considerably increased access to basic care in rural China. The coverage, however, only extends to inpatient acute care. This results in a system that is not geared to the health profile of a substantial proportion of its population. Thus healthcare costs increase with age, as health insurance coverage effectively decreases. In rural areas where health resources are already lacking in quantity and quality, the prospects of the elderly living a healthy life past sixty are rather bleak.

Health reform, too, falls on the shoulders of America’s baby boomers

Written by Damjan Denoble. Posted on January 21, 2010. Filed under Public Health. 2 Comments.
I have known very few people as passionate about healthcare as my college professor, Don Taylor, currently an associate professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.  Professor Taylor taught the introduction to American healthcare course, and he wanted us to take three things away from the class 1) Morbidity and mortality are not [...]

End Poverty In South Asia

Written by Damjan Denoble. Posted on January 21, 2010. Filed under Asia, NOT-China, Company Profile. No comments.
I wish I had discovered the World Bank's "End Poverty in Asia" blog earlier, but I will have to settle for perusing through their older content. Informative articles written by some of the world's best development minds combine to make this blog a must read for anyone contemplating an interest in Asia healthcare. Healthcare and development are intimately linked, one unable to exist without the other. An added bonus is that the site is linked to a high quality World Bank Youtube Channel. Check the channel out, and then check out the other channels it subscribes to. I promise you will find more than a few hours of interesting content to stare at.

Stem Cells in China, Wild East Until Doctors Get Paid Better

Written by Damjan Denoble. Posted on January 19, 2010. Filed under China, News Items. No comments.
In my opinion, the proliferation of productive, and legitimate stem cell research, like so many other things in China, will come down to a basic need of health reform, better doctor compensation. Simply put, when doctors get paid more, and consequently, doctors' prestige is no longer tied down to institutions and titles but is, instead reflected in fairer compensation, the instances of stem cell shams will decrease to less troubling levels. A part of this causal chain has to do with the fact that the government is keenly aware of how dire the financial statements of its state run hospitals are. To preserve order, red envelope payments (i.e. under the table payments above the listed cost of treatment) are tolerated. Allowing hospitals to offer bogus stem cell therapy is just another, unofficial way that doctors can compensate their salaries. Once the government feels that doctor's are getting a fairer deal, that the doctors themselves are okay with, they will crack down on, as of now, unofficially tolerated corruption.