(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-26 22:02

China's new medical reform plan, which aims to provide universal basic services at reasonable prices, will increase government responsibility and input, said Health Minister Chen Zhu on Wednesday.

In a report on the reform of medical care and the public health system delivered to the 31st session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, Chen Zhu said: "Government should play a leading role in providing medical care and public health service."

Both the central and local governments should "significantly" increase input in the health sector, the minister said.

While attending to both the needs of medical institutions and patients, additional funds will be mainly used to provide medicare in rural areas and urban communities to reduce medical costs borne by patients.

According to the report, the government, society and individuals will split the cost of basic medical care. Specialized medical care, however, should be covered by patients or through commercial health insurance.

Chen acknowledged the "imbalanced" allocation of medical resources, which were concentrated in major urban hospitals.

The minister promised in the report to initially set up the framework of a basic medicare network by 2010 to reduce the widening gap of medical services among different income groups and regions. By 2020, China will establish a basic medicare network for the whole population.

The public health service network will include rural cooperative medicare, urban community medical services and public hospital management systems.

According to the report, China would also set up an independent system on the production, procurement and distribution of basic drugs, which will be on a list drawn up by the central government, to ensure drug safety and reduce prices.

Due to a lack of government funding, public medical institutions have, for years, mainly operated using profits from medical services and drug prescriptions. This profit-driven method of management had "imposed heavy burdens on patients and led to a waste of medical resources," Chen said.

"We will gradually reduce hospitals' involvement with drug sales to cut drug prices," Chen said, noting that any resulting shortfall could be met by government subsidies and a reasonable rise in medical service fees.