Chapter 784 The Origin of Barefoot Doctors
When Director Yuan heard his leader's nonchalant attitude, he became anxious:
"But Commissioner Lin, with so many orders waiting, there are countless patients waiting. Shouldn't we expand our production capacity? I see there are dozens of production lines in the warehouse. Should we start the second phase right away?"
Lin Sanqi smiled and asked Director Yuan to sit down and talk:
"What are you afraid of? Our Epyridamole tablets are patented and registered worldwide. No other company can copy them. So, let's get a taste of how monopoly companies make a fortune."
In fact, what Lin Sanqi was thinking was:
Damn it, we used to just watch others reap the benefits of the monopoly, but now the situation has changed and it’s finally our turn.
It turns out that it feels really good to just sit back and collect money. No wonder so many companies insist on maintaining a monopoly.
"Besides, we have more important things to do right now. Look, anti-tuberculosis treatment has become universal in other countries, but our country of invention still only has one hospital. Do you think this is reasonable?"
Director Yuan said thoughtfully:
"Yes, Commissioner Lin is right. While making money is important, it's not as important as the health of ordinary people. Foreigners can get anti-tuberculosis treatment, so it doesn't make sense that our own people should have to wait."
Seeing that he had convinced the stubborn old man, Lin Sanqi smiled and said:
"The ministry has issued an order that each region, starting with the city, can arrange for 30 medical personnel to come to our Bao'an County for training. This will be the focus of our work in the future.
Once domestic doctors are trained, it will only make sense to launch the second phase of the project. By then, we'll need a large supply of ethylpyrifos tablets. Director Yuan, you have a heavy burden on your shoulders."
Director Yuan was so excited when he heard this that he stood up immediately:
"Don't worry, Commissioner Lin. You gave me this life. You treated me like a national hero, and I will repay you like a national hero. Even if it costs me my life, I will definitely produce the medicines the country needs, not a single one less."
After Director Yuan left, Lin Sanqi sat in the office and kept thinking about what the next hit product should be.
The best would be a special medicine that works immediately, or a new surgical procedure that can bring medical technology that shocks the world.
The key is to be able to remain unchecked and continue to reap the benefits of monopoly.
After Minister Li secretly left Bao'an County, he rushed to BJ without any awareness that he was becoming a tool. Of course, it is possible that the old lady was pretending to be stupid.
In the office, Leader Jing personally made a cup of tea for the only female minister.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were three female ministers in the country, namely Minister of Health Li Dequan, Minister of Justice Shi Liang, and Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission He Xiangying.
Especially since Minister Li was the wife of the patriotic general Feng Yuxiang, she was naturally highly respected by the leaders.
After taking a sip of water, Minister Li reported to Leader Jing in detail everything he had seen and heard in Bao'an County.
Leader Jing said with emotion:
"I went to Bao'an County a few months ago. At that time, it was still a barren land. I never thought that six months later, Bao'an County has actually built a modern hospital.
This time, Bao'an County received $300 million in foreign exchange through Hong Kong, which really solved our urgent needs. It also silenced those who opposed Bao'an County. This is foreign exchange earned by our own comrades.
The old lady didn't come to listen to her leader's nagging. She rolled her eyes and decided to complain first.
"Leader, you see, Bao'an County has already started producing anti-tuberculosis drugs, but we currently only have one hospital, the Capital Infectious Disease Hospital, that can treat tuberculosis. It's foreign countries that have promoted these drugs first. This is unacceptable.
So my idea is that at least every one of the more than 300 regions and municipalities in China needs to have an infectious disease hospital to treat tuberculosis. We should strive to make our country the first tuberculosis-free country, don't you agree?
Leader Jing is such a smart person, he naturally knows why the old lady said that, and can only nod awkwardly:
"Yes, that's true. I've actually considered what you said, but you also know the country's financial situation. Even a normal general hospital can't be popularized, let alone a specialized hospital."
Minister Li sneered inwardly and decided not to give his leader any chance to fool around:
"Leader, here's an opportunity. It doesn't require any financial investment. As long as you agree, I can guarantee that every province, city, and autonomous region in the country will have its own hospital. How do you think?"
Leader Jing was stunned and asked weakly:
"Sister Li? Are you kidding me? Did you find the Qing Dynasty's treasure? Or did gold fall from the sky? You have to understand that there are so many places in the country. How much money would it cost?"
In 1963, formal hospitals were not yet widely available in many remote areas. For example, in Yunnan, doctors from the province mainly went to the countryside and villages to provide medical treatment.
As for the countryside, it was still an era of amateur doctors, and farmers had little access to modern medical care.
The reason: either there are no doctors or there is a lack of medicine, but the bottom line is that there is no money.
It was not until 1965 that the great man angrily criticized the Ministry of Health and then began to attach importance to the medical and health care industry, and then crash course in medicine was launched across the country.
Educated young people are selected to participate in the training, which lasts about four months. They learn general medical knowledge and simple treatment methods for common diseases.
After completing their studies, students returned to rural communes or urban community health centers to work as health workers. This is the origin of the famous "barefoot doctors."
Although barefoot doctors were available, the problem of "medicine" was not fundamentally solved. Urban health centers were doing okay, but Chinese herbal medicine was still the dominant method in rural areas.
As the Minister of Health, Li Dequan naturally understood that the lack of medical care and medicine for the people was due to her dereliction of duty, but she had no choice.
Now that there is an opportunity in front of me, I will naturally grab it and be full of motivation.
"Leader, this money won't just fall from the sky, but it will give us a new source of income in the south. Lin Sanqi and Shen Guoming said that Bao'an County will cover all the medical and health funding for the country in the future."
Leader Jing frowned and said:
"Lin Sanqi and Shen Guoming are being quite arrogant. Do you know how much this will cost? Even a country's finances can barely cover it, and yet Bao'an County dares to make such promises?"
Minister Li didn't care whether the leader believed it or not. She was determined to go all out today.
"Leader, I think Bao'an County is very sincere. Lin Sanqi and Shen Guoming said that the funds for the new infectious disease hospital will be loaned to the local government by Bao'an County at no interest.
At the same time, the X-ray machines and blood testing machines needed for the new infectious disease hospital were also funded by Bao'an County and donated to the local area free of charge.
Bao'an County also promised to undertake the training of infectious disease doctors nationwide, especially tuberculosis training. Apart from travel expenses, the rest of the food, accommodation, and learning materials are all included.
Leader Jing was shocked again: "Do you have an estimate of how many doctors and nurses will be trained nationwide?"
Minister Li replied without thinking:
"We are calculating based on 30 doctors per region, so there are at least 10,000 doctors nationwide. If more proactive regions want to send more doctors, we could have 20,000 doctors."
Leader Jing suddenly narrowed his eyes and asked again:
"Lin Sanqi and Shen Guoming mean that Bao'an County will cover the bulk of all domestic medical and health expenses from now on? However, the money Bao'an County earns will only be used by the health system, and no other foreign exchange will be turned over?"
Minister Li was a little surprised and said:
"Hey, leader, how do you know what Lin Sanqi and the others mean?"
Leader Jing thought that it was true. One should not show off one's wealth. It must be that Lin Sanqi handed over $300 million in foreign exchange at once, which attracted the attention of certain departments.
It was probably Shen Guoming's idea to lock all of Bao'an County's funds into medical and health care to prevent foreign exchange from being divided up.
Of course, Leader Jing had no doubt about how much money Bao'an County could make now. After all, there were only 20 production lines, one of which was exclusively for domestic supply.
For example, the Tianjin Pharmaceutical Factory is the largest pharmaceutical factory in the country. It now has 50 production lines, but it may not create much economic value.
Therefore, Leader Jing and many other leaders believed that 300 million US dollars was the limit, but they never expected that Lin Sanqi had a trick up his sleeve and temporarily blocked the 800 million US dollars.
Leader Jing thought for a long time before saying:
"In principle, the opinions of Lin Sanqi and Shen Guoming can be considered, but whether they are actually allowed or not still needs to be discussed at the meeting.
But one thing is for sure: if Bao'an County is designated as a designated health system provider, then the national health budget must be no less than 1 billion RMB per year. If it's too little, it probably won't get approval from higher-ups."
Lin Sanqi had made big promises to his leaders before, so he had to earn enough foreign exchange to make it justifiable.
Otherwise, why would his superiors support Lin Sanqi's mischief in Bao'an County?
Minister Li was delighted when he heard this:
"Okay, I'll pass this on to Lin Sanqi and Shen Guoming. Comrade Lao Jing, on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of health workers across the country, thank you, haha."
Leader Jing waved his hand and said, "What's the point of thanking us? The key is to achieve results. Let's hurry up and start the tuberculosis training. We'll wait and see."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
