Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is round table.
Rural clinics could be the lifeline for millions of villagers in China, but their numbers are steadily falling.
What's driving this decline, and how do we secure the last mile of medical service reaches those who need it most?
And we're on a mission of starting your week with motivational kick.
Our motivational Monday offerings will get you ready to tackle the week coming to you live from Bailey, Beijing, this is roundtable.
I'm Hei young.
For today's program, I'm joined by Steve Hatherly and Yuxian in the studio.
First on today's show, grassroot healthcare institutions are primary healthcare facilities that provide essential medical care services at the local level, often serving as the first point of contact for patients.
These institutions include community health service centers, township hospitals, outpatient departments and rural clinics.
They play a critical role in offering basic medical care, preventative services and health education, particularly in underserved areas such as rural communities.
And China has over 1 million grassroot level medical institutions last year, 36,000 more than the year before.
However, the nation also saw a drop of 5000 village clinics during the same period.
While grassroot healthcare institutions are generally on the rise, rural clinics are facing a decline.
What difficulties are these village clinics encountering and how can they survive?
Yuxian, please break down the numbers for us and get to the heart of what's affecting the survival of these rural clinics.
Yes, Hei yang.
As you mentioned earlier, the official data from the statistical bulletin on China's national economic and social development in 2023 revealed that there were around 1 million grassroots level healthcare institutions in the year 2023.
And among them, there were 34,000 township health hospitals and also 36,000 community health service centers or stations, plus a 321,000 outpatient departments or outpatient offices.
That's showing that there's such a great number of such health facilities out there.