GUANGZHOU, China, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Some 42 percent of rural residents in China's Guangdong province do not see a doctor when they are ill, a report said.
Of the people who do see a doctor, 26 percent refuse hospitalization.
Some attribute the problem to poor rural medical facilities combined with expensive medical charges, less than 10 percent of which were covered by the Guangdong province's medical insurance system, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
While 80 percent of the province's medical dollars had been sent to major cities, the Guangdong provincial government has decided to increase rural healthcare funding this year to improve medical facilities, provincial officials said.
In addition, big-city doctors and medical groups have been encouraged to provide more rural services, hospitals will be required to bid on drugs and equipment to keep prices down, and hospital charges will be given closer scrutiny in the southeast China province.
