[A Chinese Nephrology and Dialysis Unit in the eyes of a western nephrologist]

This paper reports a description of the characteristics of the Nephrology and Dialysis department of the Yangzhou Northern Peoples Hospital (Jiangsu province - China) observed by the Author in a two weeks stay. The most outstanding remark is that, in spite of the modern and highly developed structure and information technology of the hospital, the Chinese Health System, an insurance based system, doesnt cover all the care expenses, leaving the remaining cost to be payed by the patients (about 30%). This often induces an empirical method of treatment of nephropathy, because of the lack of a histologic diagnosis and a minimalistic approach for choosing drugs. Another important point is the discontinuity in the follow-up of the disease and the frequent development of uremic complications, especially hyperparathyroidism.