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In July of 2005, the Temple University Beasley School of Law convened a two-day meetng on the state of health law and policy research in China. The meeting was supported by the Network Public Health Program of the Open Society Institute. At this exploratory event, leading US and Chinese experts in public health, law, bioethics, health care management, and governance discussed the legal, regulatory, and social environment of China's health care and public health systems. The lack of equity, quality, and accountability in the medical care sector; ethical and human rights concerns related to state efforts to control AIDS, SARS, and substance abuse epidemics; institutional and social discrimination surrounding health status including mental illness, HIV, and cancer; scarcity of established bioethical principles; and dysfunctional governance structures were among the major issues discussed at the roundtable.
This exchange led to the identification of several root problems, among them the lack of health law and bioethics scholarship in China and absence of formal and clinical exposure of doctors, public health professionals, legal practitioners, advocates, regulators, and the general public to health law and ethics principles. Increased capacity to generate, disseminate, and implement regulation and education in these areas was seen as a key step to the development of a fair, equitable, and healthy Chinese society. An improved human rights record and more transparent governance that would result from such scholarship and education were also understood to be important in sustaining China's economic leadership. Moreover, robust and effective public health structures in China hold the promise to boost biosecurity and stability on a global level. |
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