Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
农村医生项目与健康结果：证据与机制
Rural physician program and health outcomes: Evidence and mechanisms
摘要
Primary health care is the doorkeeper for individual health and the cornerstone of universal health coverage. Despite global efforts to promote universal health coverage, the underuse of primary health‐care services remains prevalent in rural areas, resulting in significant health concerns for rural residents. As a part of the policy to strengthen primary health care, the Chinese government has established a rural physician program to deliver immediate and convenient health‐care services. This paper provides the first evaluation of the effects of the rural physician program. We find that although most rural physicians have limited education and lack professional training, the program significantly improves rural residents' health outcomes. The improvement is mainly attributed to changes in health awareness and health‐seeking behaviours among rural residents, enhanced accessibility to nearby health‐care providers, regular health examinations and the diagnosis of simple diseases. However, the program demonstrates limited effect in addressing complex chronic diseases. Moreover, a cost‐benefit analysis indicates that the benefits derived from the program outweigh the associated costs. Therefore, this paper highlights a relatively cost‐effective way to improve the health status of rural and impoverished populations, particularly in developing countries and regions.
中文摘要
初级卫生保健是个人健康的守门人，也是全民健康覆盖的基石。尽管全球致力于推动全民健康覆盖，但在农村地区，初级卫生保健服务的利用不足依然普遍存在，给农村居民的健康带来了重大隐患。作为加强初级卫生保健政策的一部分，中国政府设立了乡村医生项目，以提供即时便捷的医疗卫生服务。本文首次评估了乡村医生项目的效果。研究发现，尽管大多数乡村医生受教育程度有限且缺乏专业培训，该项目仍显著改善了农村居民的健康结果。这一改善主要归因于农村居民健康意识和就医行为的转变、邻近医疗服务可及性的增强、定期健康检查以及常见疾病的诊断。然而，该项目在应对复杂慢性疾病方面效果有限。此外，成本效益分析表明，该项目带来的收益超过了相关成本。因此，本文揭示了一种相对经济有效的途径，用以改善农村及贫困人口的健康状况，尤其是在发展中国家和地区。