Free health care ruled out
20 March 2007
China's health-care system has fallen behind despite continued economic growth, and the nation faces a major challenge in looking after its 1.3 billion people, according to health minister Gao Qiang. Gao said it will be many years before China can provide free health care for all, adding that government spending was still far from adequate, the South China Morning Post reported. Gao also noted that universal health care would require a huge amount of government spending, and without effective controls on medical resources, it would not be efficiently carried out.