China's Ministry of Health said on April 23 that its 2012 budget would amount to 80 billion yuan ($12.69 billion), representing a year-on-year increase of 13.3 billion yuan ($2.1 billion).
According to a statement released by the ministry, medical services will get the lion's share, 10.9 billion yuan ($1.73 billion), in order to improve the capacity of major clinical departments at public hospitals.
Meanwhile, 236 million yuan ($37.5 million) will be allocated to education. Another 1.7 billion yuan ($270 million) will go to research projects, which include the development of new drugs and the prevention and control of major infectious diseases such as AIDS and viral hepatitis. |