Targeted assistance helps improve medical condition in China’s poorest regions

BEIJING — Medical conditions in China's poorest regions are improving with the help of targeted medical assistance to hospitals in these regions.

More than 400 hospitals in such regions have been upgraded to higher levels, and over 30 hospitals of this kind can now provide medical services comparable to that of top hospitals, according to the National Health Commission (NHC) in a press release.

Once, the people and medical workers in these places were deeply troubled by the shortage of medicine, personnel and equipment.

Now, medical workers in hospitals such as Kashgar Prefecture Second People's Hospital in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region are witnessing the improvement of their hospital's condition.

"The hospital is now top-notch, with cutting-edge emergency treatment methods for heart diseases, " said a senior physician of the hospital, which received targeted assistance from top hospitals in Shanghai Municipality.

Since 2016, 963 top hospitals have paired with 1,180 hospitals in 834 impoverished counties to offer similar targeted assistance, the NHC figures show.

Benefiting from the assistance, today, 90 percent of patients suffering from severe or acute diseases in Xinjiang can be successfully treated.

Targeted assistance from top hospitals has also brought advanced hospital management methods to impoverished regions. With their help, many hospitals in such regions are setting up departments to treat more kinds of illnesses and cultivating young medical talents.

To further promote poverty alleviation work in the medical sector, the targeted medical assistance must be carried out more accurately, said Ma Weihang, an official with the Zhejiang province's Health Commission.

"In some places, compared to advanced medical technology, the people need more practical therapies that can address their problems, " said Ma, adding that medical assistance should cope with the target region's medical situation.

"The NHC will step up efforts in rolling out more accurate and detailed medical assistance plans, and further improve the medical condition in impoverished areas by utilizing telemedicine technology, " said Jiao Yahui, deputy director of the Medical Administration Bureau under the NHC.