Reuters Pictures
Patient Wu Wanshun recovers from surgery at a hospital on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province October 30, 2009. While China's best city hospitals meet global standards, rural clinics are often staffed with under-educated medics and lack even basic functions such as heating. To supplement salaries and revenue, doctors and hospitals peddle expensive drugs or prescribe unneeded treatments. Efforts to extend insurance coverage are being accompanied by reforms to improve salaries and revamp the cost structure of hospitals. Picture taken October 30, 2009.
