February 18, 2019, “Top Ten Heartwarming Rural Doctors and Ten Village Hospital Deans in 2018” were announced during the Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum. Ten rural doctors and ten village hospital deans from the central and western regions of China, including Sichuan, Shanxi, Gansu and Yunnan provinces, were awarded the honor. During the award ceremony, many well-known entrepreneurs also jointly launched the Rural Doctor Guardians Alliance, hoping to call up more organizations and businesses to join the Rural Doctors.

Rural Doctor Guardians Alliance Established

Chairman Guo, sponsor of the initiative, recalled in the speech his own experience of being cured by rural doctors when he was a child, and shared his survey experience in rural areas of northern Shaanxi last year. Rural doctors are a key force to medical care and public health services in rural areas. Hopefully society can mobilize to care for this respectable and lovely group of professionals, helping them better protect the health of villagers.  

During the event, Guo Guangchang, Chen Dongsheng and other guests cut the ribbon to launch the “All the Way with You – Rural Doctors Guardian Alliance”. Entrepreneurs participating in the Alliance said they would do their utmost to leverage social resources in engaging more organizations, companies and individuals to provide access to sustainable health solutions for rural areas. Tian Yuan, Founder & Chairman of the Yabuli Forum and Founding Partner of YuanMing Capital, said that Chinese rural doctors have done the huge undertaking of serving more than 670 million rural residents. “We would spare no effort to provide thorough and sustainable help by empowering rural doctors, improving access to primary care, and benefiting more people in rural areas.”

With its inception, the Alliance is intended to improve China’s healthcare at the primary level, and help reduce the poverty rate caused by illness in alignment with the Health China strategy.

At the ceremony, Jianlong Iron & Steel and Zou Dan Li Group each donated 1 million RMB to support the initiative. Li Haifeng, Director-General of Fosun Foundation, expressed his gratitude on the initiative’s behalf, and said the initiative would be a platform to unite all walks of life in helping 1.5 million rural doctors improve their professional abilities, as well as their working and living conditions.

Protect the Villagers without any Doubts

Honorees Yang Tiankui, Zhang Ruiting, Bai Junmei, and Ma Jinhua shared their stories of persistence from their initial intentions. Zheng Zhuqian, the oldest doctor who met with Mr. Guo in his village clinic eight months ago, brought Guo a hand-written couplet from home as a gift to express his gratitude to the rural doctor initiative.

The ten inspiring doctors are mostly rooted in the underserved rural areas in central and western regions of China, working hard for decades without complaints to protect the health of the villagers. Zheng Zhuqian became a barefoot doctor in Zhengjiajian Village in 1971, and has been working almost year-round for the past 48 years. He retired two years ago, but returned to work again when he found there were no doctors for the villagers. Zhang Ruiting aged 63 works in Shijiaping Village, Xinshui Town, Daning County, Shanxi Province. He has served more than 2,000 residents in 11 natural mountain villages for 46 years. Over the years of patient visits, he has ridden over 500,000 kilometers, wearing out 6 motorcycles and 10 medical kits. Li Yan is a single-armed doctor from Shanxia Village, Guangchang County, Jiangxi Province. During his 27 year practice, he has overcome difficulties beyond imagination working single-handedly, with a medical kit on back, going back and forth on the hilly road. 38-year-old Yang Lianying, a deputy to the National People’s Congress, has been responsible for the health management and public health of more than 2,000 permanent residents in Henan Village. She is a perisistent vocal advocate for rural doctors at the National People’s Congress, and explores solutions to the fundamental issues about rural healthcare and poverty alleviation.

Yang Tiankui from Shangduke Village, Rangtang County, Sichuan Province has served the Tibetans on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for over 30 years. He has been suffering from pulmonary edema because of overwork in anoxic areas all year round. He was once removed from this post by his superior, but later asked to come back by the villagers’ petition with joint signatures. In the eyes of locals, Dr. Yang is their health guardian. Some patients even came from other towns and provinces to visit him for medical consultation. The ten village hospital Deans voted in the ceremony are all outstanding caregivers committed to grassroots service, and carrying out the sincere noble duties of medical professionals.

According to official statistics, there are more than 1.4 million doctors in rural China, distributed in 37,000 rural hospitals and 650,000 township clinics nationwide. They are responsible for the basic public health services and basic medical care of 670 million rural residents.