保险

Health insurance. Of course I have one here. I pay my bills and get refunded back home - unless I lose my receipts. For most Chinese, however, health insurance, insurance in general, is just taking of. It is big business now, as I was reassured by someone from my soccer team working with Allianz in China. Eventhough there are painstaking obstacles (government officials, partners jumping the boat just before the deal and what not), the investment appears to be worth the hassle. The market is gigantic, and only part of it (major cities, the Eastern part of China) has been explored. Longterm thinking and the reduction of risk / maximization of security are slowly making inroads into people' minds, and their monthly paychecks. No wonder, since these paychecks are becoming ever voluminous.

Health insurance is naturally of main concern in China. Just consider the high number of traffic accidents alone. (Reminds me of one of my last days going to work - the bus slows down, people stare out of the window, there, in the rain, lies an old man on the street, just next to a minivan, blood trickling from his bald head and mingling with the water streaming down the street- an uncanny sight, with no one helping). Not everyone can afford health insurance in China. In fact, the Shanghai perspective is not representive for the country as a whole. Here people are relatively wealthy and enjoy a lot privileges for holding a Shanghai resident permit (户口). I suspect, most of them have health insurance (which is relatively cheap, ten Euros a month or so, at most). People from more rural and less 'advanced' regions are less fortunate. They are especially in trouble when working in Shanghai as the infamous 'migrant workers'. The soaring prices and their still meager paychecks force them to cut down costs. So, it's food against chances of the body.

The teachers at my school(just as the cleaning lady at my home) all have that (non-)status. They work here, but they all come from Anhui Province, north of Shanghai, needing to rent an appartment in Shanghai. They are not Shanghai residents and they work on the lower tier of the 'work-chain'. Since my school is not a normal public school but a school for kids of migrant workers, the teachers are not public officials, they have no insurance. And likely none to purchase themselves, no wonder with a monthly salary of 80 Euros. This isn't much because prices in Shanghai in many areas already equal those of European cities. They even overtake some cities such as Berlin in the rental and purchase of real estate.

There are plenty of people having no health insurance in China. And here is what happened. A teacher of my school got sick. Apparently a bleeder, a condition dangerous but normally not irresolvable, unless you lack insurance. This man had been sick for weeks. He could not go the hospital, he could not pay for it, his condition slowly deteriorating. His family, as all the teacher's families were in Anhui, the wife and two kids, all very poor, living with the parents of the wife. I know of this case, because the teachers organized a fundraising for the teacher, going around collecting money from kids and staff, I also chipped in. The wife came too, to pick him up and return with him to Anhui, perhaps getting him to a hospital there (again, Shanghai being too expensive). Speaking from my collegues demeanor when addressing this issue, it seemed a pretty helpless situation - he couldn't pay so he was bound to die. I don't know if, at this moment, he is still alive. Needlees to say, his wife and small children would face extreme hardship with him, the sole breadwinner, gone. It's hard to imagine, and it was also impressive and strange how the Chinese around me handled this situation with resolve and yet also going about business as usual (in a "well, what can you do"-manner), I assume accepting the higher authority of poverty over matters of life and death. This felt strange and utterly sad coming from a country with extensive health insurance coverage. I am an advocate of universal coverage, now more than ever.

put on hold

Got some time on my hands to reflect on these last months. Involuntarily. Abandoned Travel plans due to an injury attained during a tackle, playing soccer of course. At least I could experience the Chinese health system up close and in full swing, swinging at me. Went twice, already, to the doctor at the 上海交通大学医学院附属瑞金医院 (Remember, when you come to Shanghai)

A good rule, I am told, is not to go to the local district hospital, they may turn you down or let you wait forever. Go to some fancier central place, connected to the university at best. So here we were! My first time, the emergency room. The place felt and smelt a bit like on of these indoor swimming pools in dire need of renovation. It was all very simple. I went in, first to the information desk, then to the cashier (which would turn out to be the most important location of the whole place). They gave me a card - I, and my health history are henceforth registered with this particular hospital - upon payment of 1 Euro 40 Cents(Since I am not a Shanghai resident I cannot obtain a card that works in every hospital in town). Included was the first look at my foot by the doctor. So here I was, in front of the 骨科 (science of the bone) room, where one doctor (probably my age) handled all the evenings emergencies. He was not particularly attentive, to say the least. Send me right away to get an X-Ray, which I got in record time - 20 minutes I was back (on the way dropping once again by the cashier, another 14 Euro, gone). A quick glance apparently sufficed for a diagnosis, nothing broken, "just take it easy for a week". I was also asked if I believed in chinese medicine, and if I wanted some. Well, i believed my belief in pills of whatever kind (Chinese or Western) would aid recovery, so I bought this stuff, another 5 Euro.

So in all, 1.30 hours, 20 Euros later I had a take-home X-Ray and diagnosis and some pills - fair deal.

Unfortunately my foot didn't succumb to the diagnosis, but kept on bugging me. So I went a second time, in the morning, to the new section of the same hospital. Very fancy, brand new and 25 stories high. This time the information desk gave me a choice, 特别 or 普通 (special or general doctor). At the cashier I made that choice, going for the specialist. 10 Euros as opposed to, probably, 2 Euros. On the 14th floor the difference was already reflected in the waiting room. While hords of people were shuffling, sitting and moaning in front of the general doctors rooms (a bit like the subway station, or perhaps even that weird low-ceiling room of the Shanghai stock-exchange) my waiting room on the other side was almost deserted. Also, the seating arrangements were leather sofas, as opposed to those plastic benches in the proletarian section. Never got to treat my behind with them, however. After delivering my card to the nurse, my name immediately popped up on the screen next to one of the doctor's rooms. I went in to meet a very jovial old man who took his time involving me in some small talk (the higher price, however, did not include him being able to speak English). Afterwards he stared at my X-Rays for a long time, prescribed some medicine (inflammatory stuff - produced in Munic, thank god) and bid me farewell. It was certainly much more reassuring than the first visit, but then again, cost almost five times as much as the first doctor. Nice view from his office though.

Blattgold

Some friends, former fellow combatants of 'Die Friedenswarte' editorial board, and me are now writing short pieces, squibs sort of, in german under the name Blattgold published with the journal Welttrends. Apart from the print edition, our texts can be found here. Currently we are working on a piece about the olympics.

So this is Goodbye!

The schoolyear has ended, I have finished my work. It was a great time!

Earthquake

Yes, I am donating as well. 100 Yuan (10 Euros) for the victims of the earthquake in Sichuan Province. What strikes me is the omnipresent imagery. On TV, on pictures, people all over the country drop money in a box. Almost as if they were casting the ballot. Their choice this time is only how much money to give. But it's perhaps the first nationwide and relatively self-organized choice in Chinese history.

More nonsense, and more honesty

The intelligent phone and the 'Propaganda Board' (which is actually just a message-board run by the housing management of the district I am living in)