220312 Health equity and social justice in the rural areas of China

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Zhaokang Yuan, MPH , School of Public Health, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
Xiaoxing He, MD, MPH , Health Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH
  
Background: More than 57% of China's populations are resided in the rural areas. However, rural populations are not entitled to social welfare and government or employer sponsored health care. Thus, the rural health equity and disease prevalence is unclear. Methods: We examined 2003-2008 surveys of the new-type rural cooperative medical system (CMS) in Jiangxi Province of China to identify the demographic characteristics, chronic disease prevalence, and health equity. The prevalence rate of chronic diseases was defined by all cases of chronic diseases in the half-year period. The concentration index (CI) and slope index of inequity (SII) were used to assess health equity.

Results: A total of 7442 households and 31,239 respondents participated in the surveys. The ratio of male to female was about 1.06. The mean age was 34 years old. The prevalence rate of chronic diseases ranged from 8-14% at baseline, and 5-14% in the follow-up surveys. Overall, respondents with the lowest income had significantly higher prevalence rate of chronic diseases than those of the other groups. As the income-level increased, the prevalence rate of chronic disease decreased. The absolute values of CI increased slightly over time, but less than 0.2 across the study period. In comparison with the baseline, the absolute values of SII were higher in 2006 and 2008.

Conclusions: Poorer income is associated with higher prevalence rate of chronic diseases. It appears that the new-type CMS has a beneficial impact on the prevalence rate of chronic diseases and health equity in the rural areas of China.

Learning Areas:
Administration, management, leadership
Chronic disease management and prevention
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines

Learning Objectives:
To identify the rural health equity and prevalence rate of chronic diseases; to discuss social justice under the new-type cooperative medical system in China

Keywords: Equal Access, Social Justice

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am Professor and Dean at School of Public Health, Nanchang University, China.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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