In today’s talking points: Alibaba’s new online health platform helps source medicines for patients; China set to see most organ transplantations in the world in 2020; China has 230.8 million aged over 60; Hainan plans to become a health and longevity island.
Alibaba’s new online health platform helps source medicines for patients
E-commerce giant Alibaba plans to roll out Ali Health to help patients source medicines. Patients in China can sometimes find it difficult to source certain drugs depending on where they live in the country. Many drugs can only be obtained in first-tier cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai. Alibaba’s non-profit online healthcare platform will aim to solve the problem of finding rare prescription drugs through transparent and reliable channels. Plans are underway for the online platform to work with welfare organizations and medical institutions, such as hospitals and healthcare clinics, pharmaceutical companies, to ensure supply.
Read more at: China Daily
China set to see most organ transplantations in the world in 2020
According to China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee (COTDF), China saw a total of 2,866 organ donations between January and July this year, a 33 percent year-on-year increase. Back in 2010 when China launched its organ donation system, only 34 Chinese citizens chose to donate their organs after death. Together with increased donation rates, China has made significant progress in the legal framework for organ transplantation in recent years, with more than 30 official documents and regulations released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) and the Red Cross Society of China. Enforcement has also strengthened, particularly with the ban on organ transplants donated by executed prisoners in January 2015. Since then, only voluntary donations have been the source of organ transplants.
Read more at: China Daily
China has 230.8 million aged over 60
230.8 million people in China, or 16.7 percent of the total population, were aged over 60 at the end of 2016 according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. This means that under international standards China is classified as being an “aging society”, where a country or region has over 10% of the population aged 60 or above. Although having 140,000 nursing homes with over 7.3 million beds, a year-on-year increase of 20.7 percent and 8.6 percent respectively, this is still only 31.6 beds for every 1,000 senior citizens.
Read more at: Xinhua
Hainan plans to become a health and longevity island
A recent development plan released by Hainan authorities has outlined the province’s intention to accelerate the development of the island’s healthcare industry. By utilising the preferential policies given to the Boao Lecheng international Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, the province will develop infrastructure constructions to further attract high-end medical healthcare projects. In particular, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) will be developed as a medical tourism product as a complement to the high-end medical tourism industry. According to the development plan, by 2020 the healthcare industry is expected to generate 5 percent of the province’s GDP (100 billion RMB).
Read more at: China Daily