GP based primary care is only just starting to emerge in China

If China used GPs instead of hospitals to deliver primary health care, one in five deaths that are due to preventable risk factors could potentially be averted, say researchers at the University of Sydney. Such a system would also help to get the best results from China’s ¥850bn (£81bn; €98bn; $125bn) health reform package now under way, but there are few signs that the idea is being embraced, observers say. Hypertension accounts for 11.7% of deaths in China, while smoking and physical inactivity account for 7.9% and 6.8%, respectively. “Primary care is better placed than large hospitals to monitor risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes,” said Lyndal Trevena, head of the Office for Global Health at Sydney Medical School. “Many of the most effective strategies to address these risk factors can be implemented in primary …