Survey finds most Beijingers neglect their health
11/21/2005
Most Beijing residents neglect their health and complain about medical services, a new survey has found.
The China Youth Daily reported on Wednesday that the National Bureau of Statistics has interviewed 1,030 residents of the Chinese capital on their health awareness.
The Bureau found that more than half of those surveyed said they needed extra-time to finish their normal work.
According to the survey, over one third of interviewees said that their psychological and physical health were on the decline due to an excess workload. The survey found that employees in foreign-funded businesses suffered the most from work pressure, followed by managers and various kinds of technicians.
On medical services, nearly 70 percent of the local residents surveyed choose not to see a doctor when they fall ill. And more than half do not have regular physical check-ups due to high fees. More than 81 percent of the interviewees were not satisfied with the quality of medical services, citing long waiting times and surging fees.
Interviewees said they had difficulty in finding appropriate doctors and meeting growing medical charges. 46 percent of interviewees said they preferred to buy medicines from chemists before seeking professional treatment in hospitals.
Just 13.2 percent of interviewees made no criticism of medical services in the survey.
Meanwhile, China Daily reports on another related survey conducted by the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau. This survey indicates that on any given working day, the average Beijinger spends an extra 53 minutes at work over-and-above the contracted hours.
Most hardworking of Beijing residents according to the survey were 31-35 year-olds who work an additional 67 minutes each day.
Self-employed workers suffer the heaviest workload, with their daily overtime at close to two hours.
Hot on their heels are researchers and scientists who spend an-hour-and-a-half extra in the lab every day.
Teachers and government staff also putting in extra work. Teachers are now going home some 59 minutes late, just a minute behind civil servants who head home after 58 minutes extra time in the office.