Despite regular increases in the national average life
expectancy, the gap between rich and poor regions continues to
grow, a leading demographics expert has said.
Zhai Zhenwu, director of the China Population Association, said
the gap grew to 14 years in 2000, and now required government
attention.
"Regional economic and developmental disparities should not
automatically translate into a shorter life for those at the poor
end of the spectrum. It's unfair and could affect stability and
harmony," he told China Daily.
The average life expectancy in China increased to 73 in 2005, up
by more than a year and a half from 2000.
The average life expectancy in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin in
2000 was the same as in most developed countries, with Shanghai
registering the highest - about 78 years.
At the other end of the life expectancy spectrum are poor,
remote areas in the western part of the country like Yunnan and
Guizhou provinces. People in Tibet lived to an average of about 64
in 2000.
Zhai said the problem looks more pressing when one considers
that the urban-rural gap is present on a smaller scale within
almost every region of the country.
Because life expectancy reflects a broad array of social and
economic conditions, it is a key way to measure development, he
said.
The benefits of China's growing economic power have spread
across the country, but some pockets remain impoverished, Zhao
said.
The problem is that medical resources such as large hospitals
and qualified doctors tend to be concentrated in large cities, he
said.
In 2000, in rural parts of Guizhou province, 45 percent of
babies were born at home, he said.
Before 2002, when the rural cooperative medical scheme was
launched to provide subsidized healthcare to farmers, much of the
rural population had no medical coverage, he said.
(China Daily January 10, 2008)