After the Cultural Revolution, public healthcare was mandatory and private hospitals became public, state run hospitals. Each person was taken care of by the community, both for his or her job and for his or her health. Medicine focused mainly on primary care and basic prevention. The reception structures corresponded to Western dispensaries or hospitals. Because of the welfare state, both hospitals and dispensaries were public. Patients did not pay for the care they receive. However, in hospitals there were differences in the quality of care between managers, their families, deserving workers and other patients. Epidemic prevention posts was set up in 1954 throughout the country and made it possible to eradicate many epidemics. Large-scale vaccination campaigns and the strengthening of medical care in impoverished rural areas made it possible to prevent many diseases. Life expectancy rose from 35 years in 1949 to 65.86 years in 1978.