After the release of the No. 1 document "Opinions of the Communist Party of China on Learning and Using the Experience of the "Thousand Village Demonstration and Ten Thousand Village Renovation" Project to Effectively and Effectively Promote the Comprehensive Revitalization of Rural Areas, rural medical care has become an important aspect of promoting rural revitalization, especially playing a vital role in preventing people from returning to poverty due to illness. This paper will discuss the current situation and future development of rural medical care in China from the perspectives of medical resources, utilization efficiency and traditional Chinese medicine services.
China's urbanization process continues to advance, and the urbanization rate is increasing year by year. According to the data released by the state, as of 2023, China's urbanization rate will reach 6616%, compared to 483%, an increase of 1786 percentage points. However, as the rural population declines, so does the number of village clinics. From a peak of 66 in 201130,000, 58 in 202280,000, a decrease of 750,000, a decrease of 113%。This shows that the shortage of medical resources in rural areas in China still exists.
In order to solve the problem of insufficient medical resources in rural areas, Document No. 1 proposes measures to strengthen the service capacity building of township health centers and village clinics. With the acceleration of urbanization, the supply of rural medical resources will be further improved. For example, the number and scale of township health centers should be increased in a timely manner, the level of traditional Chinese medicine services should be improved, and the number of medical personnel and technical reserves should be increased, so as to provide better medical security for rural residents.
In recent years, the utilization rate of hospital beds in medical institutions at all levels in China has shown a downward trend. In addition to the impact of the pandemic, the characteristics of different levels of medical institutions have also led to changes in the efficiency of use.
One of the reasons for the decline in bed utilization in large hospitals is the expansion of hospital size, with a significant increase in the number of beds. This also shows that although rural medical resources are relatively insufficient, most patients prefer to go to large hospitals for medical treatment. The decline in the utilization rate of hospital beds in primary medical institutions is affected by the "siphon effect" of large hospitals, and it will take time for hierarchical diagnosis and treatment to achieve remarkable results.
In order to improve the efficiency of hospital bed use, it is important to accelerate the pace of construction of a close-knit county-level medical community. By improving the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system, optimizing the referral process, and strengthening the coordination and cooperation of members of the medical community, we can effectively triage patients, increase the utilization rate of hospital beds in primary medical institutions, and improve the utilization of rural medical resources.
In recent years, China's traditional Chinese medicine industry has achieved vigorous development, and the service capacity of traditional Chinese medicine in rural areas is also improving. **In the "road map" for rural revitalization proposed in Document No. 1, it is pointed out that the proportion of traditional Chinese medicine services provided in township health centers is increasing year by year.
According to the data, it has increased from 60% in 2012 to 99% in 20224%, an increase of 334 percentage points. The proportion of village clinics providing TCM services has increased even more significantly, from 32 in 20124% increased to 81 in 20222 per cent, an increase of 49 percentage points. This shows that the demand for traditional Chinese medicine services in rural areas of China is increasing, and traditional Chinese medicine plays an important role in rural medical care.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has unique advantages in health care and disease prevention and control. By providing traditional Chinese medicine services, we can meet the diverse medical needs of rural residents and promote their physical health. Therefore, it is of great significance to strengthen the training of traditional Chinese medicine talents and improve the quality of traditional Chinese medicine services for the development of rural medical care.
*The release of Document No. 1 "Opinions of the Communist Party of China on Learning and Using the Experience of the "Demonstration of Thousand Villages and Renovation of Ten Thousand Villages" Project to Effectively and Effectively Promote the Comprehensive Revitalization of Rural Areas" provides clear guidance and policy support for the development of rural medical care. By strengthening the construction of medical resources, improving the efficiency of use, and developing traditional Chinese medicine services, rural medical care will be gradually improved and perfected.
However, it should be noted that with the advancement of urbanization, there is still a certain gap in the supply of medical resources, and the challenges of rural medical care still exist. Therefore, we need to further increase investment in rural medical care, improve policies and measures, and improve the quality of medical services to meet the diverse medical needs of rural residents. Only in this way can we truly achieve the goal of comprehensive rural revitalization and make rural medical care ahead of the development of the times.