Using Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2005, 2008 and 2013, this study investigates health determinants and health inequality in China. The ordinal complementary log-log model is used firstly to examine the impact of individual and contextual factors on self-rated health status. The study further checks the health inequality among subgroups divided by health determinants considered in the determinant model. We find that there are significant gender, residential, ethnic, socioeconomic, emotional, regional, and periodic differences. Moreover, the health status of subgroups defined by factors used in this research is affected by health determinants in different ways which indicates the impact of these health determinants on health is moderated by each other. We conclude that while the health status generally varies with individual factors and social contexts, each group characterized by individual and contextual features has its own unique needs to improve and maintain their health status in China. The public policies aiming to increase Chinese health status and reduce health inequality must pay close attention to these needs while equalizing the availability, accessibility, and affordability of health facilities and health care system.
The sharp rise in sex ratios at birth in several major Asian countries, such as India and China, is one effect of a persistent strong son preference in a context of rapidly contracting family size. This imbalance to the detriment of girls has been attributed to three factors: under-registration of female births, sex-selective abortion, and excess female mortality in the first year of life related to differences in levels of care. Danièle B ÉLANGER and her colleagues have examined the case of Vietnam, which has cultural affinities with China and has also introduced a family planning programme, the two-child policy, which is strict in its goals though uneven in its application. The data analysed by the authors, including valuable hospital data, do not support the conclusion of a significant increase in sex ratios at birth, although higher ratios are observed in particular social groups (government cadres) and at births of parity 3 and over. If confirmed, this lack of discrimination against girls would attest to a higher status of women in Vietnam than in China.
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