ajfortin.com

Beijing, China – Keeping track of what’s going on in China’s health care development means often absorbing a dizzying set of contrasts. In one reading of health care news I came across the announcement of China’s intention to send roughly 5,500 doctors and nurses from Chinese cities to the countryside this year in an attempt to narrow the gap in access between urban and rural areas. Following that was news in the China Daily that interventional radiology was gaining ground in China and helping to reduce the risk of invasive neurosurgery.

But the big news was progress in the research being conducted to find a substitute for tiger bone, an important ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Many TCM doctors swear by its potency in strengthening bones and tendons and believe it has no substitutes. The research has pointed to the bones of a type of a rat called Sailong, found on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Scientists from the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology have said the bone structure and content of this rat are very similar to tiger bone (and even superior in some aspects).

Still, there is skepticism among TCM providers about substituting an ingredient that has been tested for centuries. But the government’s ban on trading in tiger parts remains strong, and practices need to change.

Beijing, China — The number of disputes between medical workers and patients has reportedly risen over the past few years with some resulting in physical violence. The Ministry of Health would like to introduce third-party insurers to help manage these disputes and mediate the strained relationships between patients and medical workers. This seems to be a call for more hospitals and doctors to come under some form of malpractice insurance. Apparently Yunnan Province, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing already have available insurance programs but they are voluntary and expensive with most health care workers and institutions not covered.