Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 6, 2022

 

The Logic of the Construction and Evolution of the System of Protection of Farmers’ Basic Health Rights

(Abstract)

 

Shang Huping and Huang Liuzhao

 

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, protecting the basic health rights of the people by striving to eradicate the problems of poor health and low average life expectancy caused by pandemics and common diseases has become a core task. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese government first promoted the construction of a protection system for farmers’ basic health rights in rural areas. A health protection system taking into account the “prevention of major epidemics and elimination of common diseases” was launched and developed. It has gone through a trajectory of initial exploration, comprehensive promotion, decentralized exploration, policy innovation and systemic upgrades. The logic of the development and evolution of the protection this right not only follows the basic principles of Marxism, but also links the prevention of major epidemics and elimination of common diseases through organizational memory. The construction of this protection system has enabled the rational transformation of various “special assets” for the prevention of major epidemics into regular medical protective resources. It has also ensured the “right to budgetary dismantling and reuse” for prevention of major epidemics and elimination of common diseases thanks to the advantages of socialist macro-control. The Chinese path of constructing a basic health protection system for farmers thus took shape. In order to raise the level of protection of farmers’ basic health rights, we have to continue to promote the integration of the work of prevention of major epidemics and elimination of common diseases and institutionalize the experience of organizational memory, so as to further equalize health services for urban and rural residents.