QUALITY OF LIFE in China has soared in recent decades. The quality of death, however, remains grim. As the population ages, the number succumbing to diseases that can be protracted and painful, such as cancer and Alzheimer’s, is soaring. The government wants to make dying a bit less execrable, so it is experimenting with state-subsidised end-of-life care. But deep taboos and bureaucratic hurdles are making progress agonisingly slow.
The Economist
