China steps up efforts to tackle anesthetist shortage

BEIJING — China has taken measures on to address its insufficient number of anesthetists.

There were about 55.96 million surgeries operated in Chinese hospitals in 2017, but only 76,000 anesthetists were available. To hit the standard of 2.5 anesthetists per 10,000 operations in developed countries, at least another 270,000 anesthetists are needed.

"Recently, the amount of surgeries has risen by 10 percent annually, while the number of anesthetists has only increased about 5 percent," said Mi Weidong, an expert in labor analgesia at the Chinese Medical Doctor Association.

With people's increasing need for medical services, a major predicament is that the surging number of surgeries largely outnumbers the increase of anesthetists every year.

China has put more efforts into dealing with the shortage of anesthetists in recent years. A total of 382 training bases for anesthetists have been selected to cultivate more professionals, and over 55 universities and colleges began enrolling undergraduate students majoring in anesthesia.

Thanks to the efforts, the number of anesthetists in China has increased by 20 percent in the last five years.

In 2018, a guideline for strengthening and improving anesthesia medical services was issued. It aims for the total number of anesthetists to reach 90,000 by 2020.