A riot in China over deteriorating public health care

According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, the disturbance was sparked by news that a young boy, Xiong Zerong, was rushed to local Guangan No.2 Peoples’ Hospital on November 8 after he swallowed pesticide.

The hospital staff, however, did not treat the boy because his grandfather had only 123 yuan (about $US15), instead of the full fee of 639 yuan. Doctors asked him to go back home to raise more money, but the child died before the grandfather returned.

The family has demanded compensation but the public hospital agreed to pay only 500 yuan. When relatives tried to take their grievance to the municipal government, security guards beat them. A group of local students helped the family stage a protest, which rapidly attracted others angered by shoddy hospital practices and prohibitively expensive healthcare services.

The angry crowd smashed windows and equipment at the public hospital. Around 100 armed police were called in to break up the demonstration—10 people were injured, five were arrested and three police vans were burned.

A local telephone operator told the Associated Press news agency the following day: “I saw many armed policemen on the streets. They were using loudspeakers to tell the people not to believe rumours and to trust the government.”

Both the municipal and national governments cleared the hospital of any responsibility. China’s state-run media claimed the hospital had provided emergency treatment to the young boy. An investigation by medical specialists associated with Sichuan University found the hospital had immediately pumped the boy’s stomach and put him on a drip, but he had died because he drank too much pesticide.

The official story is likely to be a cover up. Even if the infant was actually treated, the incident reveals intense popular hostility toward Beijing and its pro-market policies. Many people obviously believe that hospital administrators are quite capable of allowing patients to die if they or their families cannot pay hospital fees. The introduction of a “user pays” regime in the 1990s means that millions of people cannot afford basic medical and hospital services.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/nov2006/chin-n27.shtml