Sunday 16 September 2007

Barefoot doctors in China

In the 1960s, China raised an army of paramedics who were given basic training in western disease control and traditional medicine. While opinions vary about the medical worth of these 'barefoot doctors' -so called because some were so poor they walked from village to village without shoes - they are credited with having an important role in educating people in the basics of hygiene and infectious disease control

Farmers plough a paddy terrace. This is one China's poorest provinces, and compared to the regional capital of Shanghai, the region’s 37 million people - most of whom are peasants - can expect to live 13 years less. Mothers have a 10 times greater risk of dying during childbirth, and infants are five times more likely to die before the age of five.


Patients receive treatment at a local hospital but some are very overcrowded.
Beijing: A Chinese couple with triplets beg for money to pay for the medical care for one of the babies who is suffering from meningitis, after the local hospital refused treatment. Public resentment at lack of facilities is rising. A man (below)carries a sign that reads 'clinic' as he is detained and taken to a police station after officials found an illegal surgery in a house while they were patrolling in the neighbourhood. Why do you think they do this?














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