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Background: The goal of the New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NCMS) is to decrease the financial burden and improve the health of rural areas. The purpose of the present study is to determine how government subsidies vary between poorer and wealthier groups, especially in low-income regions in rural China.Methods: The distribution, amount, and equity of government subsidies delivered via NCMS to rural residents at different economic levels were assessed using benefit-incidence analysis, concentration index, Kakwani index, Gini index, Lorenz curve, and concentration curve. Household and health institution surveys were conducted in 2010, covering 9701 residents. Household socio-economic status, healthcare costs, out-of-pocket payments, and utilization information were collected in household interviews, and reimbursement policy was provided by institutional survey.Results: The government subsidy concentration index was -0.055 for outpatients and 0.505 for inpatients; and the outpatient and inpatient subsidy Kakwani indexes were -0.376 and 0.184, respectively. The poorest 20 % of populations received 3.4 % of the total subsidy output; while the wealthiest 20 % received 54.3 %. The results showed that the distribution of outpatient subsidies was equitable, but the hospital subsidies disproportionally benefited wealthier people.Conclusions: Wealthier people benefited more than poorer people from the NCMS in terms of inpatient and total subsidies. For outpatients, the subsidies were unrelated to ability to pay. This contradicts the common belief that the NCMS does not exacerbate benefit inequity. Long-term policy is required to tackle this problem, specifically of redesign the NCMS reimbursement system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to develop representative gender- and age-specific percentile reference data for serum lipids for Chinese adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age. Blood samples were obtained from 2998 boys and 3225 girls in nine provinces from the mainland of China, including rural and urban areas. The data for serum lipid levels, including TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C, were calculated and measured between March and June 2008. Gender- and age-specific percentiles of serum lipid levels were calculated. Gender- and age-specific percentile-based reference data for serum lipids is presented for Chinese adolescents for the first time. The 95th percentile for the TC, TG and LDL-C levels was 5.07, 1.90 and 3.32 mmol/l, and the 5th percentile for the HDL-C level was 0.92 mmol/l among all the students. These reference values can be used to plan and implement preventive policies, and to study temporal trends. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Little is known about the information on sexually transmitted disease (STD)/AIDS in the population working in congregating trading markets in China. A cross-sectional study was conducted among three big congregating trading markets in Hefei City. Seven hundred fifty-two market vendors completed a questionnaire, 333 of two markets provided specimen for STD/HIV testing. The majority of market vendors in China are sexually active youths and adults, and have little education. The market vendors had poor knowledge of STD/AIDS. The rates of correct answers to questions about STD/AIDS varied between 21.1%–81.9%. More than 50% of the market vendors had a negative attitude toward HIV-infected individuals. Among the subjects, 27.6% had had premarital or extramarital sex; 15.9% reported using condoms in the past 12 months. Among those who provided specimens, 3.9% were identified with STD, approximately 9 times higher than that in the general population of Hefei (0.4%). Our study suggests China should implement STD/HIV prevention interventions for market vendors to prevent STD/HIV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]