With less than 18 months to go for China to reach its goal of eliminating extreme poverty nationwide, improving healthcare in its impoverished regions is a high priority. While the nation has enough doctors to send to some of the poorest areas, many do not want to go, and those that do are often overworked and underpaid. On Tuesday, China's National Health Commission announced they are taking new approaches. CGTN's Xing Ruinan has more.

Being poor adds to life's many challenges.

It's even worse if you get sick.

Matters are only complicated more when you can't find a doctor, and even if you can, you typically can't afford the bill.

That used to be the situation for millions in China's poverty-stricken areas. Many counties and villages were short of qualified doctors. And it's still the case in Leshan, a city in China's southwestern Sichuan Province, where about a quarter of all impoverished areas are short of county doctors.

HU QIANGQIANG, DEPUTY MAYOR LESHAN, SICHUAN PROVINCE "The reasons are simple: doctors in cities are not willing to move. Doctors in counties are leaving for better jobs. People who are willing to help are not qualified enough to do so."

The latest government moves: sending more doctors to the region and providing better instruction.

HE JINGUO, DIRECTOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION OFFICE, CHINESE NATIONAL HEALTH COMMISSION "Over the first six months of the year, China designated over 1000 top hospitals to provide one-to-one assistance to about 1,000 county-level hospitals in over 800 poverty-stricken counties, and established a telemedicine network to give distance-instructions."

While reducing the medical burden for patients in impoverished areas, governments are taking measures to ensure subsidies and incomes for rural doctors. More funding and supportive actions are expected to land in rural areas.

Xing Ruinan, CGTN.