Better Healthcare

Over 2 million impoverished patients were treated in China in 2016, Wang Pei’an, Vice Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said on April 21.

Wang made the remarks at a press briefing, speaking of the national program that began in June 2016 and focused on poverty alleviation via improved healthcare.

According to Wang, medical security for impoverished people was enhanced in 2016, with 67.6 percent of them subsidized for their hospital expenses.

Also in 2016, patients in 74 percent of impoverished counties were able to receive treatment before paying, thanks to the program.

A database on their illnesses has been set up to prioritize the treatment of major illnesses, and 90,000 impoverished people have been treated for such illnesses since February.

Illness is a major cause of pov- erty among China’s rural population, with over 44 percent of the impoverished suffering from illnesses at the end of 2015. China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, on April 21.

Cao Cao was released in the wild with a positioning system and a recording device fixed around her neck. She was recaptured on March 27.

The recording showed that she had mated with a wild male panda.

Zhang Hemin, deputy head of the center, said inbreeding among captive bred pandas was reducing their fitness. The experiment aims to bring in genes from the wild pandas to make the captive ones healthier.

More captive pandas will be released in the wild for such experiments.