Commercialisation of Medical Care in China

This book explores the changing landscapes of the commercialisation of medical care in China. It is the first work of its kind, and discusses how the rise of market socialism, coupled with decollectivisation of agriculture and autonomisation of hospitals in rural and urban China, have fragmented the health service system. The book examines public hospital reforms; the rise of the medical-industrial complex; the emerging public-private partnerships in the health sector; the challenges of financing; and the growing inequalities in access to health services, to present a comprehensive view of the Chinese health care system over the last four decades. This topical book will be useful to scholars and researchers of Chinese studies, Chinese economy, public health, health management, social health and medicine, medical sociology, sociology, political economy, public policy and public administration as well as policymakers and practitioners.

Rama V. Baru is Professor at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University and an Honorary Fellow with the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi, India. Her major areas of research interest include commercialisation of health services, infectious diseases, comparative health systems and health inequalities. She is the author of three books: Private Health Care in India: Social Characteristics and Trends (1998); School Health Services in India: The Social and Economic Contexts (2008); and Medical Insurance Schemes for the Poor: Who Benefits (2015). Her most recent publication is a co-edited volume (with Anuj Kapilashrami) titled Global Health Governance and Commercialisation in India: Actors, Institutions and the Dialectics of Global and Local (2018). She has contributed to many edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals. She is currently a member of the Ethics Committee at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Technical Appraisal Committee for Health Technology Assessment, the Department of Health Research, the Ministry of Health, the Government of India and the Scientific Advisory Group, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi. Madhurima Nundy is Assistant Director and Associate Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS), Delhi, India. She holds a PhD in Public Health from the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She completed her MPhil from the same Centre. Before joining the ICS she was the Senior Programme Coordinator at the Public Health Resource Network and has been a Technical Consultant with the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Her areas of interest include health service systems, health policies and inequalities in health. She has contributed to chapters in edited volumes and has edited a monograph entitled Challenges to Health Service Systems: India and China (2017). She has published in several journals and has been a regular contributor to policy analysis in the area of public health on China and India.

List of figures. List of tables. Foreword. Preface and acknowledgements. List of abbreviations. Prologue: a modern silk road in health.1. The changing landscape of the commercialisation of medical care in China: an overview. 2. The commercialisation of public hospitals: institutional and financial reforms. 3. The changing landscape of private medical care and the rise of the medical-industrial complex. 4. Public-private partnerships in medical care. 5. The continuum of commercialisation of medical care in China: whither equity? Index.