TANGSHAN, China: Understaffed and underfunded clinics stand half-empty in parts of the Chinese countryside even as hospitals in major cities heave under an unprecedented Covid wave — an illustration of the stark disparities in the country's healthcare system.
Visits by AFP journalists in the past two weeks have revealed sharp differences in demand for urban and rural hospitals in parts of northern China as many in the countryside head to big cities for a quality of care they simply can't get closer to home.
