Rural areas of China have made remarkable progress in reducing adult mortality within the past 15 years yet broadened health insurance was not a casual factor in that decline, according to a new study by an international research team that includes Asia Health Policy Program Director Karen Eggleston.

The New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS), a government-subsidized insurance program that began in 2002-03, expanded to cover all of rural China within a decade. Examining NCMS and cause-specific mortality data for a sample of 72 counties between 2004 and 2012, the researchers found that there were no significant effects of health insurance expansion on increased life expectancy.

The study, published in the September issue of Health Affairs, showed results consistent with previous studies that also did not find a correlation between insurance and survival, although much research confirms NCMS increased access to healthcare, including preventive services, and shielded families from high health expenditures.

Commenting on the study, Eggleston said population health policies remain central to China’s efforts to increase life expectancy and to bridge the gap between rural and urban areas.

Eggleston also noted that multiple factors beyond the availability of health care determine how long people live, and anticipates the research team will continue to explore the impacts of NCMS by extending the study to look at infants and youth.

Read the study (may require subscription) and view a related article on the Stanford Scope blog.

Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is proud to announce the selected practitioners for the 2017-18 Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program. 

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“This inaugural program is CDDRL’s first year-long academic program aimed at mid-career professionals,” said Mosbacher Director of CDDRL Director Francis Fukuyama. “We see this as a wonderful opportunity to train Ukrainian leaders and equip them with the networks and resources to advance democratic change in a country where it is urgently needed.”

In its inaugural year, the program received an overwhelming response with 340 applications for just three positions. Starting this September, an outstanding group of Ukrainian leaders who are working to achieve and strengthen democratic reforms, civil society, transparency and economic development in their various sectors will have the opportunity to study at Stanford and to launch a project to support democratization in Ukraine. The following emerging leaders were selected for their contributions to Ukraine’s political development, their leadership potential and strong project proposals:

Oleksandra Matviichuk is a human rights defender who works on advancing democracy in Ukraine and the OSCE region. At present, she heads the human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties and also coordinates the work of the initiative group Euromaidan SOS, which aided persecuted protesters during the Revolution of Dignity in 2013-14. In 2016, she received the Democracy Defender Award for "Exclusive Contribution to Promoting Democracy and Human Rights" from missions to the OSCE.

Dmytro Romanovych works at the Reform Delivery Office for the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Romanovych is an advisor to the Minister of Economy, and is responsible for deregulation and improving the business climate in Ukraine. In addition, he is an economic expert in the largest NGO coalition in Ukraine, the Reanimation Package of Reforms, which is the most influential non-governmental reform advocate in the country.

Olexandr Starodubtsev is a Ukrainian reformer who is deeply involved in the creation of a new electronic public procurement system Prozorro. Starodubtsev is the head of the Public Procurement Regulation Department in The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, and is an official policymaker in the spheres of public procurement and economic development in Ukraine.

This program would not have been possible without the support of a set of generous partners and donors. We would like to thank WNISEF, Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, Tomas Fiala and Astem.Foundation for their generous support of the Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program. We would also like to acknowledge Oleksandr and Kateryna Akymenko for their work to design and launch this program, and our Draper Hills Summer Fellows alumni Olga Aivazovska, Vasyl Marmazov, Kateryna Ryabiko, and Svitlana Zalishchuk for their assistance in the review process.

A public event to celebrate the launch of the Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program will take place on October 3, 2017 at Stanford University. More information is forthcoming.

To read more in Ukrainian, please click here. For updates, please sign up for our newsletter here.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump recently held a summit in Washington, their first face-to-face meeting in a time of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Experts from the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center offered insights in a series of publications and press interviews.

In advance of the summit, William J. Perry Fellow Kathleen Stephens spoke on Bloomberg television about the challenges facing the United States and South Korea, and how those challenges would be prioritized during the bilateral meeting.

Moon would be bringing the message that the U.S.-South Korea alliance is a “strong one and that he remains committed to it,” and that, “only by working transparently and closely together” could the two countries address areas of concern, Stephens said.

“Only when Washington and Seoul are able to talk very frankly to each other and come up with a coordinated plan do we have any chance of making some progress on North Korea,” she added.

Stephens joined the program from Seoul, where a group of Shorenstein APARC faculty and fellows participated in a public seminar and the Korea-U.S. West Coast Strategic Forum, a biannual conference that seeks to foster dialogue about issues affecting the Korean Peninsula and the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

The seminar, held in conjunction with The Sejong Institute, received press coverage; such articles can be read on the Voice of America website (in Korean) and Sisa Journal website (in Korean).

In an analysis piece for Tokyo Business Today, Associate Director for Research Daniel Sneider assessed the outcomes of the summit between Moon and Trump, suggesting that their meeting was satisfactory – without signs of major discord.

“For the most part, this display of calculated pragmatism worked well. There was no visible daylight between the two leaders over how to handle the North and THAAD totally disappeared from the summit talk, at least in public and in the joint statement issued by the two governments.”

The summit, however, may prove to be a “temporary gain,” Sneider added. “Beneath the smiles, there was plenty of evidence of the gaps, and even the tensions, that exist between a progressive government in Seoul, one that echoes the views of its ideological predecessors of a decade ago, and a nationalist, conservative regime in Washington.”

Read the piece in English and Japanese.

Days after the summit, North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which the United States and South Korea followed by hosting joint military exercises.

Stephens spoke on WBUR radio about the ICBM test launch and the initial reactions of the Trump administration.

“If [President Trump’s] agenda is to take stronger defensive measures against North Korea, I think he will find strong partners in Japan and South Korea,” she said, noting that other measures, such as diplomacy and economic sanctions, have also been used to affect pressure on the regime.

Responding to a question about China’s relationship with North Korea, Stephens said Beijing has not exhausted all possible tools in its efforts to persuade Pyongyang to slow or abandon its nuclear and missile activities. This is because China fears a collapse of the regime and “takes a long view” in its calculus, she said.

This news item has been updated.