Friday, November 08, 2013

Blog #9: Chinese Doctors Becoming the Targets of Patients’ Anger

According to the China Hospital association, medical staffs are being attacked by patients or their relatives at a rate of once every two weeks per hospital. At least six serious incidents have occurred in the last two weeks. This includes the case of Dr. Yunje who was stabbed to death by a patient unhappy with his treatment on October 25th. Since 2002, attacks have risen by an average of nearly 23 percent a year. In the late 1980s, the state provided about 60 percent of investment in most public hospitals. After medical reforms by 2009, they were providing 20 percent and remaining 80 percent had to be covered with revenue generated by the hospitals. The central government’s National Health and Family Planning Commission has pushed for emergency measures to be implemented which includes having hospitals assign one security guard per 20 beds, and guards should account for no less than 3 percent of the total medical staff.


The issue of high medical cost for Chinese people is a sociological created problem that has surfaced in recent years. Nearly all the major medical facilities are run by the government but underfunding has become a major problem that has caused poor healthcare quality and crowded hospitals. After learning more about China’s overpopulation problem, I can see why healthcare is not a major concern. It is also important to note that violent incidents are more severe in these smaller or local hospitals. There is a widespread lack of trust in doctors and hospital administrators, not to mention corruption in every level. This is affecting families all over China who often do not have enough time or money to pay for private care in China. Illness frequently causes bankruptcy in families who exhaust their saving on healthcare. These families’ expect positive results and when they don’t see them, they often blame the doctors which explain the rise of violence within the hospitals. This is commonly a problem with families living in poverty because they make very little money in the factories they usually work in. If someone in the family were to become ill, that would worsen their situation because it will be less income contributing to the family.


Karina Velazquez
11/8/13
1:05 am

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