ABSTRACT

Since gaining power in 1949, a top priority for the new communist China has been controlling rampant epidemics of fatal infectious diseases. The government wisely adopted a primary care system approach that integrated public health. Remarkable achievements were made to the national health status and acclaimed by the World Health Organization as 'a unique model for developing countries'. At the beginning of the economic reform, the healthcare authorities and researchers overlooked the key role of government and the unique nature of the healthcare sector. It was believed that, like other economy sectors, it would thrive in a market-oriented environment on its own accord. The most exciting and unique feature of China's primary care research is the prominence of specialists from other disciplines actively supporting research on and development of primary care. Yet for a discipline to be truly independent, research must address discipline-specific questions.