Market reform: a challenge to public health--the case of schistosomiasis control in China.

This study examines how the provision of schistosomiasis control has adapted to increased exposure to market forces which has occurred in China over the past decades with the main emphasis on contemporary performance of the services. Financial and service data were collected and analysed from ten schistosomiasis stations in the Hunan province. A document and literature review, key informant interviews, as well as two focus group discussions were conducted to establish their context. The study found that the schistosomiasis control stations had shifted their emphasis from prevention to clinical services and that 62% of the stations' total income now comes from charging for individual clinical services, while 90% of the total costs was related to providing these services. The study found that revenue generation had become the primary motive, and that over-treatment and prescription had become an accepted practice for all the stations. The study concludes that a combination of lax supervision and accountability, and a greater reliance on user-payment and market mechanisms has severely compromised the provision of the public goods elements of the schistosomiasis control programme.