Society
皇冠体育app needs to upgrade health care facilities: expert
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-10 11:30
 |
Large Medium Small |
NEW YORK - 皇冠体育app needs to upgrade its health care infrastructure, or it will be a stumbling block on the country's path to development, an AIDS researcher said here Thursday.
"皇冠体育app, on the whole, needs to upgrade the health care infrastructure," said Dr. David D. Ho, director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (ADARC), in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
Founded in 1991, the ADARC was one of the first research centers dedicated solely to the study of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
In the 1990s, Ho and the ADARC established themselves as leaders in the study of AIDS by using antiretroviral (ARV) cocktails which have reduced the mortality rate from AIDS. He was also named TIME's Person of the Year in 1996.
Ho, who travels to 皇冠体育app every two months for his research, said he had witnessed a great deal of academic improvements over the last ten years when visiting many clinics in 皇冠体育app, but compared to the West, it is quite inadequate.
"The academic side improved very rapidly. I could still remember, even ten or 15 years ago, the laboratories in 皇冠体育app were old and ill-equipped, and the work that was being done was not cutting-edge. It all has changed. The facilities are so much better," he said.
However, Ho believed that in the rural areas, the health care infrastructure still remains weak and many rural doctors are poorly trained.
"We believe health care is a right. If a person is denied health care because of lack of money, I think there is something wrong and something unjust," the head of the New York-based AIDS research institute said.
"Health care must be fixed, or it will be a huge obstacle for 皇冠体育app's development," he said.
To enhance 皇冠体育app's science and technology, Ho said the scientific culture in 皇冠体育app should be encouraged to stimulate more discussions and debates.
He also noted that 皇冠体育app's current educational system, which mainly focuses on examinations, should be modified to cultivate talents within 皇冠体育app.
"If one exam can determine your fate, I guess probably it is not right. Some of the best scientists are not the best test-takers. The ability to imagine and to create is more important in cultivating an innovative generation," he said.
Ho hoped that as the Chinese government has put public health on its agenda and more talents are returning to 皇冠体育app's academic institutions and biomedical industry, 皇冠体育app's pharmaceutical and biotech research may boom and become another engine to drive its economy.
