Tag Archives: health

Annual report on the health development of China’s new urbanization

The 2014 annual report on the health development of China’s new urbanization was published on may 2014. There are four sections in this report, including the general report, the overview researches, the monographic studies, and the case studies. This report gives an in-depth analysis and investigates these following major issues: evaluation system for urbanization and the status quo of China’s urbanization; new choices for new urbanization; spatial distribution; industrial upgrading; labor and employment; the changes of migrant workers; urban planning and urban governance; social construction and equalization of basic public services; ecological construction and carrying capacity of cities; urban and rural development, and institutional innovation.

Chi-Han Ai

Ph.D. candidate of EHESS ( École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris) focusing on regional economic development in China and Taiwan.

Foreign-owned hospitals in Chinese cities?

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China allows foreign-owned hospitals in more cities

China has allowed private hospitals solely owned by foreign investors to open in seven cities and provinces, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on Wednesday.

Wholly foreign-owned hospitals are permitted in the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan, according to a statement jointly issued by the MOC and the National Health and Family Planning Commission dated July 25.

Foreign investors can either set up a new hospital or take part via mergers and acquisitions, it said.

Full article online

Sebastien Goulard

Ph.D. in political science (EHESS, Paris); M.A. in social sciences (EHESS, Paris); M.A. in international relations (IRIS, Paris), B.A. (Hons) in international political studies (ESE - Nottingham Trent University)

Developing private health insurance in China?

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Prof. Feldstein¹ recently advocated the develoment of private health insurance in China as a remedy for high saving rate and poor health care.

But the main reason why Chinese households save so much of their relatively low salaries is to ensure that they have the funds to meet high medical costs if a family member requires surgery or other inpatient care. People save so much because insurance is so inadequate. The government’s universal health-care insurance is very rudimentary, and private health insurance is not widely available. So households accumulate large amounts of cash as a hedge against the possibility that those funds will be needed some day for hospital care.

Prof Feldstein’s full article

Martin Feldstein (2014). A healthy path to Chinese consumption growth. Project Syndicate, March 31, 2014 [↩]

Sebastien Goulard

International conference on environment, health, and media

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Environment and health are two major issues that affect our well-being. In recent decades, educators, communicators, policy makers, and public health professionals have increasingly recognized the powerful role of the media in our understanding and decision making about environment and health. It shapes us about which environmental issues are important, what kinds of products and services will improve our environment and health status, and which policies will be able to solve environment and health problems. The proposed conference will advance our research frontier on the interplay of media, environment and health choices.

Objectives and Themes

The objectives of the conference are

To bring together international scholars, educators and industry practitioners to share ideas about theories and practices to promote responsible environmental and health behaviours

To bring different academic disciplines together to share theoretical insights and empirical evidence of current issues in media and health as well as environment. Scholars can represent a variety of disciplines including communication, marketing, anthropology, sociology, psychology, education, environmental science, public health, linguistics, and cultural studies.

Specifically, topics for this conference shall include (but are not restricted to)

Environmental news reporting

Environmental framing and media discourse

Environmental promotion campaigns

Food advertising and promotions among adolescents

Food and consumer culture

Social construction of beauty

Culture and health

Young people’s media production on health issues

Public health campaigns

Creativity in health messages

Doctor patients communication

Media and health education

Organizing Committee (list of members)

Prof. Kara Chan (Chair) Department of Communication Studies

Dr. Judy Siu (Member) David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies

Dr. Dong Dong (Member) David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies

Mr. Lennon Tsang (Member) Department of Communication Studies

Date

January 5-7, 2015

Place

School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University

More information

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

Green apartments in Nanjing, China

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Hu, Hong, Stan Geertman and Pieter Hooimeijer. (2014) Green apartments in Nanjing China: do developers and planners understand the valuation by residents? Housing Studies, 29 (1), 26-43. DOI:10.1080/02673037.2014.848268

The Chinese government promotes green construction as part of the strategy to reduce energy consumption. In practice, green construction can be impeded because various stakeholders valuate green attributes in different ways. This paper uses the analytic hierarchy process to analyse the extent to which developers and planners understand the valuation of green apartment attributes by residents in Nanjing. Results show that buyers of green apartments rank green attributes lower than safety and accessibility, and rank healthy construction materials and comfort much higher than thermal isolation or reduced energy costs. Green developers tend to focus on aspects that define their margin, such as green attributes and locational benefits and overlook the social needs, which are not addressed in building codes and not under their control. They have better understanding of green residents’ priorities with health issues; planners are more familiar with the social needs of residents and lack green marketing knowledge.

Read full text on Taylor&Francis Online (restricted access)

Hu, Hong, Stan Geertman and Pieter Hooimeijer. (2014) The willingness to pay for green apartments: The case of Nanjing, China. Urban Studies. Prepublished January, 7, 2014. DOI: 10.1177/0042098013516686

Faced with the challenge of developing sustainable cities, the Chinese government sets green construction as part of the national strategy to reduce energy consumption. However, the consumer market has shown limited response to such policies. To upscale green building, it is crucial to understand the market demands for green apartments. This article employs a conjoint model to estimate the willingness to pay for green dwellings versus accessibility to metros and jobs and neighbourhood quality by different socio-economic groups in Nanjing, China. Results show that the socio-economic status of homebuyers determines their willingness to pay for green attributes. Only the rich are prepared to pay for green apartments to improve their living comfort. To all, the notion of health is appealing as consumers are willing to pay for an unpolluted environment and for non-toxic construction materials used in buildings in good locations.

Read full text on SAGE Journals Online (restricted access)

Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France

The prospect for health care rights in China

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Cao, Lijing, (2012), The prospect for health care rights in China, 72 p. Ph.D. thesis, University of Toronto. (accessed 18 december 2013)

The 2009 reform of China’s health care system attempts to lower the burden of medical costs and provide universal access to health care. This thesis focuses on a particular access and equity gap within the health care system that faced by internal migrants, and explores the potential value of a legally enforceable and justiciable right to health care in the Chinese context to address such gaps. Despite recent advances in the health care reform, lack of a framework of health care rights could be a limiting factor to current health care initiatives which are falling short of their promises of universality in some way. In the long run, establishment of such framework could be a direction that deserves further research.

Full text available on line https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/33715/1/Cao_Lijing_201211_LLM_thesis.pdf

Léa Daures

Léa Daures, historian and student at the Ecole des Bibliothécaires Documentalistes (School for Librarians and Information Professions, http://www.ebd.fr), works part-time at the UMR China Korea Japan. She is currently monitoring information online on the subject of migrants in China for UrbaChina.

Disparities in healthcare utilization in China

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Jessie Fan, Ming Wen, Lei Jin, Guixin Wang, (2013), Disparities in healthcare utilization in China: do gender and migration status matter?, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, p.52-53.

Using a multi-stage cluster sampling approach, we collected healthcare and demographic data from 531 migrants and 529 local urban residents aged 16–64 in Shanghai, China. Logistic regressions were used to analyze the relationship between gender-migration status and healthcare utilization while controlling for predisposing, enabling and needs factors. Other things equal, female migrants and male locals had significantly lower actual healthcare utilization rates, compared to female locals. Female migrants were more likely to report “no money” as a reason for not seeking care, while male locals were more likely to report “self-medication” as a reason. Considering established gender differences in healthcare utilization, we conclude that female migrants as a group face the most healthcare access barriers among all groups.

Full text available on line : http://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jfamec/v34y2013i1p52-63.html (accessed 10 december 2013)

Léa Daures

Migrants and health in urban China

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Bettina Gransow, Zhou Daming, Eds, (2013), Migrants and health in urban China, Berlin, Berliner China Hefte.Bd. 38, 2010, 192 S., br., ISBN 978-3-643-10912-5

The double-edged policy pursued by the Chinese government has created serious challenges for public health strategies implemented at national and local levels. As a result, the challenges created new research opportunities for Chinese and Western scholars, and this volume is a compilation of their work. The papers are organized within three main topics: health risks, health services, and health insurance for rural migrants in Chinese cities. The volume also includes two documentary contributions on migration regulations and civil society services for migrants suffering from occupational diseases and work-related injuries.

Léa Daures

Deep reflection needed on China’s medical-help-seeking culture

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Harry Yi-Jui Wu, Deep reflection needed on China’s medical-help-seeking culture

On Nov 7, 2012, the South People —regarded as the most independent and outspoken news paper in mainland China—published an article entitled “Sha yi” (“Killing the doctor”), exploring an incident in which a junior doctor was stabbed to death by a 17-year-old patient.

The teenage killer seemed determined to slay anyone in a white coat. Although his actions were extreme, his case is only one among many examples of despair caused by the repeated frustrations of having to travel long distances for basic primary care, and placement of unrealistically high hopes on the available services.

Scholars have commented extensively on the effect of migration on the health-care system, claiming that increased urbanisation in China has led to the exclusion of migrants in urban areas and the abandonment of populations in rural regions.

Relatively little is known about the number of patients who bypass the available primary care at home and travel to cities looking for better

medical care. In China, the unequal distribution of medical resources is severe; however, is it not so severe as to force the majority of patients

to seek health care afar. There is, nonetheless, a common belief that services at home are not making them better. Reads more on The Lancet vol. 381 Janurary 2013

Yi-Ren Liu, Ji-Chun Zhao (2013), Patients in China face crisis

Patients in China face crisis. In recent years, Chinese hospitals have seen numerous violent incidents perpetrated by patients on medical staff.

Such events have had negative effects on other patients.

On Oct 25, 2012, a pregnant woman whose unborn baby had died was refused admission by four hospitals in Yunnan province because doctors

were afraid of being attacked or sued. Many patients and media in China have expressed their anger Reads more on The Lancet vol. 381 Janurary 2013

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

Constraints on health and health services access of rural-to-urban migrants in China: a case of Dengcun village of Beijing

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Li, Yan (2010), Constraints on health and health services access of rural-to-urban migrants in China: a case of Dengcun village of Beijing. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. (accessed 28 October 2013)

China is experiencing a dramatically increasing process of rural-urban migration, which is almost parallel with the phenomenal economic growth and development in China in the last decades. Given the massive scale of rural-urban migration in China, the health services access and health constraints not only matter to rural-urban migrants but also have important implications for broad public health concerns. However, this issue has not been paid enough attention in academic research.
This study focuses on the multifaceted reality of health constraints and health services access among migrants by originally exploring the social strata, social networks, and the understanding of health and health services among migrants. The research questions are stated as follows: What constraints and difficulties do migrants face with respect to their health and health services access? Is there a hierarchical structure in health services access and medical treatment access among migrants? When there is a shortage of financial resources, do they resort to informal social support (such as informal social networks/ guanxi) to obtain help and why? What are their understanding and experience of health and why?
Furthermore, this study investigates the health constraints and health services access of rural-urban migrants in the absence of equal social protection by the government. By conducting 36 qualitative interviews in Dengcun Village, a migrant community in Beijing, China, this paper:

Investigates issues concerning environmental health risks of migrants, their health seeking behaviours, and the constraints they encountered in accessing health services with respect to the social strata among migrants. It argues that the main obstacles to access health services are not only the shortage of financial resources among rural-urban migrants, but also lie in the institutional blindness regarding health security provision, rural-urban dualism and the household registration system in China.

Highlights the key function that social networks play in health and health services access among migrants in China, which has rarely been discussed in previous studies. Examines the range of social networks among migrants, from which they can acquire support, including financial and spiritual, when they are dealing with health problems. The study argues that social networks resemble a double-edged sword to rural-urban migrants in terms of health care access. The fact that migrants lack savings may not be the sole and essential reason for their extreme vulnerability in times of illness. Some migrants, who are in financial difficulties though, may have some assistance, including financial support and emotional support from their social networks. However, on the other hand, the assistance from social networks on their health and heath care access is limited, not only because their social networks is limited, but because the social networks should not bear the responsibility to support health services access of migrants, similar to or more than the state and migrants’ employers.

Discusses the understanding of health among migrants, and further analyses that although many migrants have not formed proper understanding of the connotation of health and have limited knowledge of health, prime responsibility should not be put on the migrants because their poor understanding of health mainly results from their rural perspective while health and health services access depend on the social-economic environment in which they live and work.

Full text available on line : http://etheses.nottingham.ac.uk/3135/1/537813.pdf

Other publication by Li, Yan

“Understanding Health Constraints Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China.” Qualitative health research 23.11 (2013): 1459-1469.

Léa Daures

Urban Environmental Pollution 2013 – Asian Edition

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Urban Environmental Pollution 2013 Asian Edition : Creating Healthy, Liveable Cities

People all over the world are migrating to cities in search of jobs and cultural advantages, especially in Asia. This has resulted in the formation of huge megapolitan areas and surrounding peri-urban environs. In China, a 40 million urban area is planned.

The effects of cities on people are not well-understood. Cities require huge amounts of energy, resulting in large quantities of waste products, causing unsustainable environments. Cities are sources of air, water and soil pollution. Light and noise pollution are now known to adversely affect urban people. The role of urban heat islands and air pollution, PM2.5 and ozone, on human health is beginning to emerge. Lack of green space may have psychological effects for urban dwellers.

We began to explore the nature of the urban environment and pollution on human health and well-being at UEP2010 in Boston in June of 2010. This very successful conference identified many areas of urban life that warranted further investigation. UEP2013 aims to continue the exploration of the urban environment and how we can begin to create a healthy and liveable environment in cities.

Topics list

New information about urban environments and how they function

Pollution problems and possible solutions

Role of the built environment in alleviating heat islands

Human health problems and solutions

Role of vegetation in mitigating urban pollution and human health problems

Innovative methods for alleviation of urban stress problems

Location

Beijing, China

Date

17-20 November 2013

Deadline for abstracts

31 July 2013

Programme Committee

William Manning, University of Massachusetts, USA (Chair)
Elena Paoletti, National Research Council (IPP-CNR), Italy
Claudia Wiegand, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Local Organising Committee

Yong-Guan Zhu, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Tong Zhu, Peking University, Beijing, China (Local Chair)
Yonglong Lu, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Yong-Guan Zhu, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Website

http://www.uepconference.com/

Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France

Fighting for breath

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Anna Lora-Wainwright (2013), Fighting for Breath: Living Morally and Dying of Cancer in a Chinese Village, Hawaii University Press.

Numerous reports of “cancer villages” have appeared in the past decade in both Chinese and Western media, highlighting the downside of China’s economic development. Less generally known is how people experience and understand cancer in areas where there is no agreement on its cause. Who or what do they blame? How do they cope with its onset? Fighting for Breath is the first ethnography to offer a bottom-up account of how rural families strive to make sense of cancer and care for sufferers. It addresses crucial areas of concern such as health, development, morality, and social change in an effort to understand what is at stake in the contemporary Chinese countryside.

Encounters with cancer are instances in which social and moral fault lines may become visible. Anna Lora-Wainwright combines powerful narratives and critical engagement with an array of scholarly debates in sociocultural and medical anthropology and in the anthropology of China. The result is a moving exploration of the social inequities endemic to post-1949 China and the enduring rural-urban divide that continues to challenge social justice in the People’s Republic. In-depth case studies present villagers’ “fight for breath” as both a physical and social struggle to reclaim a moral life, ensure family and neighborly support, and critique the state for its uneven welfare provision. Lora-Wainwright depicts their suffering as lived experience, but also as embedded in domestic economies and in the commodification of care that has placed the burden on families and individuals.

Introduction

Part 1: Foundations

Chapter 1: Cancer and Contending Forms of Morality

Chapter 2: The Evolving Moral World of Langzhong

Part 2: Making Sense of Cancer

Chapter 3: Water, Hard Work, and Farm Chemicals: The Moral Economy of Cancer

Chapter 4: Gendered Hardship, Emotions, and the Ambiguity of Blame

Chapter 5: Xiguan, Consumption, and Shifting Cancer Etiologies

Part 3: Strategies of Care and Mourning

Chapter 6: Performing Closeness, Negotiating Family Relations, and the Cost of Cancer

Chapter 7: Perceived Efficacy, Social Identities, and the Rejection of Cancer Surgery

Chapter 8: Family Relations and Contested Religious Moralities

Conclusion

Appendix 1: Questionnaire (English Translation)

Appendix 2: List of Pesticides Used in Langzhong and Their Health Effects

Notes

References

Index

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

12th Asian urbanization conference

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Urban dynamics, environment and health are three major interlinked areas in the fields of urban studies, urban geography, and urban planning, with all three strongly connected to social well-being. The interconnections of various elements of these three areas have great bearing on the life quality of people in space and time. The sequential arrangement of these three themes in this conference is an expression of priority action of the process of change in spatial, environmental and human context along with time.

Papers outside of these themes but pertaining to Asian urbanization and Asian cities may also be submitted.

Location

Dept. of Geography, Banares Hindu University, Varanasi, U.P., India

Date

28-30 December 2013

Organization

Asian Urban Research Assocation (AURA)

Website

https://sites.google.com/site/asianurbanization/

Contact

Dr. B.R.K. Sinha, Local organizer, email: brksinha@bhu.ac.in, sinha_brk@yahoo.co.in, dr.brksinha@gmail.com

Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France