摘要
Our story dates from 40 years ago, on August 10, 1966, when China＇s first institution of rural medical service was inaugurated at a county called Changyang, Hubei Province, Central China, where people of Tujia, an ethnic minority group, live in compact communities. It was actually a clinic at a Dujia Village in the county, which charged itself with the task of making primary or basic medical care available and affordable-- to all the villagers. China has undergone tremendous changes since then, and now its economy becoming increasingly market-oriented. Despite that, rural cooperative medical service has kept expanding at Changyang though having experienced twists and turns over the past four decades. The county has been chosen by the central authorities to try out a new type of rural medical service, which in many ways is different from the old pioneered by Dujia in Changyang County.
Our story dates from 40 years ago, on August 10, 1966, when China＇s first institution of rural medical service was inaugurated at a county called Changyang, Hubei Province, Central China, where people of Tujia, an ethnic minority group, live in compact communities. It was actually a clinic at a Dujia Village in the county, which charged itself with the task of making primary or basic medical care available and affordable-- to all the villagers. China has undergone tremendous changes since then, and now its economy becoming increasingly market-oriented. Despite that, rural cooperative medical service has kept expanding at Changyang though having experienced twists and turns over the past four decades. The county has been chosen by the central authorities to try out a new type of rural medical service, which in many ways is different from the old pioneered by Dujia in Changyang County.
