Strategy Study On Strengthening The Role Of Traditional Chinese Medicine In Rural Health

Objective: This study focuses on actuality and problems of TraditionalChinese Medicine (TCM) and the factors impacting on its development inrural areas, to explore the strategies and ways to take full advantage ofTCM to improve rural health.Methodologies: The literature study and a combination of quantitativeand qualitative methods were adopted. The survey were carried out inthree prefectural cities, Wuxi, Nantong and Xuzhou cities respectively insouthern, middle and northern Jiangsu. In each city, two counties weresampled for institutional survey, covering county general hospital andTCM hospital, three township health centers and all village clinics in thethree townships. Qualitative interviews included directors in county TCMhospital, TCHs, and clinics, and health-tech staff in TCHs and villagers.Totally 1161 outpatients were approached for questionnaire-basedinterview.Results: Policy was not put into effect to affecting the development ofrural TCM. Government deficient investment and poor health resourcesrestrain the TCM service provision and utilization. Lowering quality ofTCM materials reduced its effectiveness. Improper propaganda andpeople's misunderstanding to TCM broke TCM imagine in people's mind.Insufficient reimbursement to TCM services leads human resourceflowing out.Policy recommendations: to increase government input; to optimizeTCM policy to improve cost reimbursement mechanism; to developpromoting policy to increase the TCM human resource; to strengtheninspection and administration to regulate TCM services; to promote thespreading and utilization of TCM practical techniques; to popularizingthe TCM knowledge, and to improve the accessibility to TCM services bycombination of hospital and individual services.