China is an enormous country with a population of over 1.3 billon people. With the largest population in the world it is no surprise that China has a lot of unique challenges to its healthcare system (Eggleston, 2012). Where the government is the biggest player in the health care system where they have a hand in everything from the insurance to distribution of the medical resources. China’s also has a very long and rich history in cultural medicine, some health and some not so healthy.
When it comes to the structure and role of the major health systems in China the government is behind both. China is a communist country and over the last eight years has gone more to a socialized health care system where the government is subsidizing the people’s health insurance (Eggleston, 2012). The government started to not only subsidize people insurance premiums, but also be the insurance carrier eliminating private insurance companies. The Chinse …show more content…
However, there are cultural medical treatments that are no so healthy and can cause harm to the person. Chinese medicine uses a large number of herbs in different mixtures. There is a lot of research to show that herbal medicine is good for you there are some in that can cause problems as well (Kupferschmidt, 2012). There are hidden dangers to herbal medicine. A lot of the time the ingredients are not listed and there is no way to know what is actually in the herbal mixture. One study took some herbal pills and ran DNA testing on them. What they found was very surprising (Kupferschmidt, 2012). There was Ephedra and Asarum found in these herbal pills that care toxic to the human body and are known to cause cancer. On top of that there were heavy metals found along with endangered species such as the Astatic Black Bear (Kupferschmidt, 2012). Even though herbal medicine is a proven treatment there are dangers and just because it is called herbal dose now mean it is
When it comes to the structure and role of the major health systems in China the government is behind both. China is a communist country and over the last eight years has gone more to a socialized health care system where the government is subsidizing the people’s health insurance (Eggleston, 2012). The government started to not only subsidize people insurance premiums, but also be the insurance carrier eliminating private insurance companies. The Chinse …show more content…
However, there are cultural medical treatments that are no so healthy and can cause harm to the person. Chinese medicine uses a large number of herbs in different mixtures. There is a lot of research to show that herbal medicine is good for you there are some in that can cause problems as well (Kupferschmidt, 2012). There are hidden dangers to herbal medicine. A lot of the time the ingredients are not listed and there is no way to know what is actually in the herbal mixture. One study took some herbal pills and ran DNA testing on them. What they found was very surprising (Kupferschmidt, 2012). There was Ephedra and Asarum found in these herbal pills that care toxic to the human body and are known to cause cancer. On top of that there were heavy metals found along with endangered species such as the Astatic Black Bear (Kupferschmidt, 2012). Even though herbal medicine is a proven treatment there are dangers and just because it is called herbal dose now mean it is