Hats off to Siemens for investing $10m in a project to improve rural healthcare in China.
Siemens will initially outfit a number of pilot hospitals with diagnostic equipment, beginning with the first facility in Yan'an, in Shaanxi province. This equipment will include ultrasound and x-ray systems as well as computed tomography imaging systems.
Not far away from each rural hospital, Siemens will equip six urban health centres with x-ray and ultrasound systems. Siemens will maintain the technical infrastructure once it is in place.
The project, headed by China's Ministry of Health, is part of the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together key figures from politics and business, as well as wealthy individuals and philanthropists, to jointly tackle challenges faced by societies.
We hear a lot about corporate social responsibility and in China CSR advocates can have a particularly difficult time given the country's hard-edged business culture. Nevertheless, its good to see a western company prepared to practice what it preaches, even in China.
