ABSTRACT
One of the first responses to early descriptions of the health care delivery system of the People's Republic of China was that it represented a more appropriate model for developing nations than that typically exported by western nations. The western model is focused on using specialized personnel in a comparatively sophisticated health service to deliver the necessary health care. The ideal, presumably, is to expand the services until the entire population is covered, an ideal seldom attained. With the Chinese Communist Party assuming power in 1949, the early experiments in health care delivery became national policy. In 1950, under Chairman Mao's direction, the First National Health Congress was held and from it came the dictum that health work should serve the masses. Although the number of Traditional doctors at the County Hospital was proportionately small, we were told that extensive use is made of Traditional medicine and techniques. An acupuncture treatment room with electric equipment serves both in- and out-patient needs.
