The Political Determinants of China’S New Health Constitution

Abstract

The Basic Healthcare and Health Promotion Law 2019 became the new constitution of China’s health system in June 2020, giving legal effect to ambitious health reform programmes like Healthy China 2030. The concurrent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 must not distract us from appreciating the fact that this Law will comprehensively overhaul the health regulatory framework of the world’s most populous country during the coming decade, if not beyond. This article offers an original evaluation of the Law in its political context. The Law commendably promises to safeguard the right to health, assist citizens to live a ‘complete cycle of life’, and promote health using the resources of the public health system. However, it is also deeply politicised, guaranteeing extensive and penetrative political control in health campaigns, digitalised health data, the governance of health institutions, and the resolution of medical disputes. This can be explained by the consequential roles played by epidemics in China’s historical dynastic cycles, but even more so by powerful tendencies of centralisation on the part of the Leninist Party-state. The Law’s potential is thus subject to the overriding caveat that the Party-state’s existence and influence over law and public health must be secured.

Unveiling spatial disparities in basic medical and health services: insights from China’s provincial analysis

“…According to this law, basic medical and health services encompass disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, nursing, and rehabilitation services that are essential for maintaining human health, adapting to the level of economic and social development, and can be equitably accessed by citizens. These services should be provided with appropriate drugs, technologies, and equipment [ 19 ]. For the purpose of this paper, the definition stated in the aforementioned law will be employed.…”

Safeguarding the Right to Health of the Elderly in Rural China: A Legal Analysis

“…It is the first basic and comprehensive law in the field of health in China, and is known as the de facto constitution of China’s health system. 52 Article 4(1) of the LPRCPBMHC states that “The state and society shall respect and protect citizens’ right to health.” This provision expresses the law’s quest to protect citizens’ right to health and reflects the shift in China’s medical and health care from a cure-centered to a health-centered philosophy. The law seeks to transform the right to health from a negative right to a positive right by requiring the state to promote health through social policies and to establish government agencies to provide medical and health services.…”

Relationship between perceived organizational support and professional values of nurses: mediating effect of emotional labor

“…In 2008 the government published the ‘Nurse Regulations’ which emphasized ‘equal pay for equal work’, aiming to eliminate the disparities among nurses [ 23 ]. The Basic Healthcare and Health Promotion Law 2019 emphasizes that no organization or individual is allowed to endanger the personal safety of medical and health personnel [ 24 ]. These policies are all aimed at creating a better supportive working environment.…”