27-Aug-16 Chongqing in Southwest China began piloting the family doctor program in 2012, under which community doctors sign contracts with residents and provide with them medical services, including health management, disease prevention and regular physical examinations at home. 200 Chinese cities will introduce such services in 2016. By 2020, China is planning to extend family doctor services to the entire population. [image: Shanghai Daily / CFP]

25-Aug-16 As incomes rise, many China residents are seeking out better quality care than that provided by public hospitals. They want easier ways to book appointments, shorter waits and greater individual attention from doctors. The demand is expected to drive the private health insurance market to USD165 bn in 2020 from USD36 bn in 2015. [image: South China Morning Post]

24-Aug-16 While China is ramping up elderly care services, there are not enough nurses to care for the growing aging population. In a nation that traditionally sees the family as the primary care giver, elderly care homes are in their infancy. While many graduates spurn nursing jobs, nursing homes prefer workers who have more experience and are paid less. [image: Shanghai Daily]

19-Aug-16 China’s ageing population has attracted foreign elderly-care services providers but they are struggling to make profits despite the market offering the largest number of senior citizens in the world. Haitong Securities said in a research report that “surging demand and limited affordability” was the major problem facing China’s elderly-care industry today. [image: South China Morning Post]

14-Aug-16 China has the highest number of diabetics in the world - 109 mn in 2015 or 11% of the population, a third of the world’s diabetic population. 13% of medical expenditure is directly caused by diabetes. "If we don’t act now," says Bernhard Schwartländer, a WHO representative in China, "diabetes will overwhelm the health system." [image: Reuters / Kim Kyung-Hoon]