China, New Zealand universities to build clinic

A Chinese medical university will join hands with the Massey University of New Zealand to set up a community clinic specializing in chronic diseases in north China's Shanxi Province. The community clinic in Taiyuan, the provincial capital city, will provide medical services to more than 7,500 residents in the city's Hanxiguandong community, Ma Qianjin, vice president of the Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said on Friday. Residents will be able to seek advice from both Chinese and New Zealand experts on how to prevent chronic diseases like diabetes, said Ma. The clinic, which is expected to open this year, will also provide residents with free health check-ups and create health records for them. Bruce Ullrich, a Massey University board member, said on Friday that the clinic will integrate Western service with traditional Chinese medical techniques in its prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. "The community clinic will mainly focus on people with obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases. The cost of disease prevention will be dramatically lower than the cost of treatment," said Ullrich. Zhang Xinwei, deputy director of the provincial science and technology bureau, said that if the clinic's practices are successful, the model may be adopted by other regions in China.