BEIJING: China has outlined new priorities for its healthcare system as it works toward building a Healthy China by 2035, with a stronger focus on disease prevention, health management and medical innovation.
A national meeting on health was held in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday, the first such meeting in 10 years. Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the meeting and called for efforts to firmly follow a path with Chinese characteristics in developing the country’s health programs and secure decisive progress in the Healthy China Initiative during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
Six key capabilities were identified at the national meeting for building a Healthy China: health management, disease prevention and control, medical services, medical insurance support, pharmaceutical innovation and talent development.
Huang Luqi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said Xi’s speech offered profound answers to a series of major questions concerning the direction, foundations, and overall development of health work in China.
It laid out systematic plans and defined six core capabilities, providing a clear roadmap for building a Healthy China that is more balanced, inclusive, efficient and of higher quality, Huang said. China has made significant progress in healthcare over the past decade. He Dan, director of the China Population and Development Research Center, said that China’s average life expectancy has reached 79.25 years, a significant achievement for a country with a population of more than 1.4 billion.
The next challenge is to help people stay healthy as they age. Xi stressed that prevention is the most economical and effective health strategy, calling for a full-chain approach to chronic diseases covering prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and long-term management. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
