China's 40,000 rehabilitation professionals is a tenth of the number needed to properly serve the country's 1.3 billion population, according to Hu Dayi, a top Chinese cardio physician.
Speaking at the opening of the Asia Pacific Heart Congress (APHC) 2012 on Thursday, Hu said rehabilitation is regarded as an important part of the recovery process for heart disease and stroke patients in Europe and the US, but underutilized in China.
Despite being a crucial part of secondary prevention for chronic diseases, it is not covered by medical insurance, he added.
Heart disease and strokes are the top killers globally. In China, an estimated 230 million people suffer from a cardio disease, which means two in every 10 Chinese are heart disease patients, Hu said.
A medical program, jointly supported by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and Focal Point in China, was launched in Beijing in June this year, to train Chinese rehabilitation professionals and encourage patients to do more exercise for better recovery.
More data on China is needed before it can be known how effective rehabilitation programs might be in the country, Sidney Smith, president of the World Heart Federation, told the APHC.
"This kind of therapy is rarely used by Chinese patients, especially in rural areas," he said.
"The more people know about the importance of it, the more likely they will be to try it."
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