卫生部

Address: No. 1 Xizhimen Nanlu, Beijing 100044

Tel: (86-10) 6879-2114

Web site: www.moh.gov.cn

The MOH reports directly to the State Council. Its functions include:

• Drafting laws, regulations, plans and policies related to public health;
• Formulating policies for maternity and child-care programs;

• Overseeing disease prevention and treatment;

• Controlling the spread of epidemics;

• Supervising blood collection;

• Reforming medical institutions;

• Overseeing state hospitals;

• Drawing up medical science and technology development projects;

• setting quality standards for foods and cosmetics;

• Overseeing medical education and setting related standards;

• Controlling the Beijing Medical College and the China Academy of Medical Sciences; and

• Overseeing the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Minister: Minister Wu Yi (concurrently with Vice-Prime Minister)

Internal setup

General Office; Personnel Dept.; Planning and Finance Dept.; Public Health Regulatory Dept.; Maternity and Child Care Dept.; Medical Administration Dept.; Disease Prevention and Control Dept.; Science, Technology and Education Dept.; International Cooperation Dept.

Overview

The MOH has been reforming the health care system. It helped slash medicine prices and listed the medicines covered by government-subsidized medical care.

The ministry requires hospitals to give drug sale proceeds to health authorities to be used for preventive medicine and rural health care, while some will be returned to hospitals to reward good service and efficiency. Some outpatient hospital dispensaries are being turned into independent drugstores.

The MOH decreed that contracts between drug companies and pharmacies be awarded through public bidding to end kickbacks and special deals. It encourages drugstore alliances to achieve economies of scale and lower prices.

The ministry is encouraging the establishment of community-based clinics and hospitals. It is gradually dividing medical service organizations into for-profit and nonprofit units and allowing patients to choose hospitals so that competition will improve services and lower costs. Nonprofit units may enjoy preferential tax policies while for-profit services may set their own prices but must pay taxes.

For-profit units include Sino-foreign joint ventures and cooperative hospitals and clinics, which must apply to the MOH for approval and may treat only self-funded patients. Moreover, the joint ventures must use advanced equipment and technology and offer services that local hospitals cannot. The ministry forbids wholly foreign-owned hospitals.

The MOH is expanding coverage of the nascent medical insurance system, in which only state-owned hospitals may participate. It shifted the burden for medical insurance from the government to individuals and their work units and drafted guidelines for medical consumer loans.

The ministry launched a campaign to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases by training doctors, setting up clinics and educating the public. It is pursuing effective models of HIV prevention, treatment and care for high-risk groups and is researching an AIDS vaccine. To prevent the spread of infection through tainted blood transfusions, the MOH outlawed the sale of blood.

The MOH and the World Bank have teamed up to strengthen the immunization program against infectious diseases. It also required construction project proposals to include occupational-hazard evaluations and required that health authorities approve technology, processes, production materials and equipment that pose a risk to workers.

The ministry requires that health-information Web sites be inspected and approved by public health authorities before they apply for business licenses. It restricts the sites to providing accurate information on disease prevention, fitness and health education and bans online diagnosis and treatment prescription.