Guangzhou sets family doctors target

Two doctors for every 10,000 rural and urban residents by the year 2015 is the target the Guangzhou government has set as it builds a community network for health services.

Every general practitioner in the capital of South China's Guangdong province will provide contracted care for a maximum of 2,000 people in the future, Qiu Chunlei, deputy director of the city's health bureau, said on Monday.

A census in 2010 showed the city had a population of 12.78 million.

The city government passed the plan to build a general practitioner system at an executive meeting on Monday.

The government's health agencies will guide and supervise health-care institutions or general practitioners in signing service contracts.

Contracts will state that general practitioners will receive an annual payment and extra payment for duties involving work outside the basic services.