Healthcare Waste Report - Environment Health

Capital
Beijing
Area
9,596,960 km 2
Population
1,330 million
The People’s Republic of China,
commonly known as China extends
over a large area in East Asia and
shares borders with countries such
as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma,
India, Kazakhstan, North Korea,
Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia,
Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan
and Vietnam. The country is
administratively divided into 23
provinces, five autonomous regions,
four municipalities and two Special
Administrative Regions, Hong Kong
and Macao.
Healthcare Facilities in China
Population growth rate
0.629%
GDP - per capita (PPP)
$6,100
GDP - real growth rate
9.8%
(Source: CIA World Fact Book, 2008)
HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
Economic reforms that began in 1978 have
ushered China into an era of unprecedented
receptivity to foreign influence. The shift to
liberalized trade policy led to reduced poverty
levels and set China on the path to economic
strength. But the reforms also catalyzed
massive change within the formerly
centralized medical system. Medicine is now
the domain of the private sector and
provincial and local governments, rather than
the national government. The number of
hospitals in China has actually grown. In
1980, there were approximately 9,900
hospitals in China. As of 2005, there were
about 18,700 (Diep, 2008). A boom in the
number of hospitals in such a short span
speaks to the changing medical landscape in
China. The different types and number of
healthcare facilities in China (2006) is shown
in Table below.
Type of healthcare facilities Number of healthcare facilities
Hospitals and Health Centers 60,037
Sanatoriums 264
Clinics 212,243
Specialized Prevention & Treatment Centers or Stations 1,402
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Epidemic Prevention
Stations)
3,548
Maternity and Child Care Centers 3,003
Research Institutions of Medical Science 248
Other Institutions 28,224
2 Healthcare Waste in China: A Status Report, submitted by Dr. Li Li, Research Institute of Solid Waste Management, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental
Sciences, Beijing, PRC to the Thematic Working Group on Solid and Hazardous Waste
25 HEALTHCARE WASTE IN ASIA: INTUITIONS & INSIGHTS