Achievement of equity and universal access in China's health service: a commentary on the historical reform perspective from the UK National Health Service.
This paper aims to examine the UK National Health Service (NHS) in the historical context of its background reforms and to investigate future developmental strategies for China's health system. We focus on the central issues facing China's future healthcare development: equity and access. China and the UK have approached healthcare reform from opposite perspectives, the NHS has maintained the core principle of providing universal health coverage throughout the decades. However, due to increasing demand, reforms to improve and sustain efficiency have meant increasing government funding while introducing elements of a market system. Conversely, China has moved from a centrally planned system to a fee-for-service system, but serious problems of inequity and access call for new methods of organisation and financing. With the future of both systems under constant debate, international experience will play a vital role in formulating health system reform strategies.
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Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College School of Medicine, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, UK. yizhou.wan06@imperial.ac.uk
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D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000191:economics; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D013222:State Medicine / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D006113:United Kingdom