Healthy Inner Mongolia 2030 campaign on the move

Inner Mongolia autonomous region has announced a new campaign to improve the health of its people with a series of proposals outlined in an official document, according to a regional governmental information platform released on May 28. 

The Healthy Inner Mongolia 2030 campaign will introduce pragmatic measures to deal with separate aspects that are closely bound up with people’s health such as hygiene, medical treatment, food safety and air quality.

The document’s first mention concerned health education. Both traditional and social media shall be urged to spread information on guidance and intervention in sexual health, high-risk disease prophylaxis and transmissible illnesses. Campus health education shall be a primary concern. Specialized teaching crews will receive systematic training and health education lessons shall be required at all elementary and middle schools.

Local hygiene departments shall carry out routine examinations and conduct surveys of the public, monitoring the general situation of residents’ weight, oral cavities, bones, and nutrition. Mental health problems will be also included. The departments will offer psychological counseling services for mental problems like depression, anxiety disorders and teenage rebellion.

The region plans to publicize information about scientific exercise to residents and encourage people to learn at least two physical exercises and take part in them at least three times a week. Besides, construction of sports infrastructure is continuing and the number of free exercise places and facilities in local communities will be increased.

Major sports projects will benefit a wide range of residents, with facilities such as teenage football training courts, ice and snow sports centers, and specialized exercising fields for the disabled.

The campaign also aims to improve the government-led comprehensive prevention and control mechanism for chronic diseases, strengthen the screening and early detection of chronic diseases, and conduct diagnosis and treatment in high-incidence areas such as stroke and coronary heart disease. The government promises major chronic diseases which meet the regulations will be registered into medical insurance payments.

The government’s ambition to control and eliminate endemic diseases, such as fluoride poisoning, Kashin-Beck disease, Keshan disease and iodine deficiency disease, so that they will no longer be a key issue that will endanger people's health.

They will also carry out prevention and control of major infectious diseases and focus on strengthening the laboratory capacity of disease prevention and control institutions.

The region plans to develop Mongolian medicine through protecting medicinal herbs, regulate medicine standards, innovate diagnosis and treatment methods, and encourage young people to join the research in the sector.

The government will establish a monitoring and evaluation system for poverty caused by illness, and narrow the gap between urban and rural medical insurance services. Preferential policies will be introduced for low-income earners, extremely poor families and seriously ill patients who are impoverished. 

A convergent mechanism alongside the governmental medical system, commercial supplementary health insurance and charitable organizations can reduce the burden of medical expenses for the poor.

To carry out optimization and integration of medical insurance, the government will improve the basic medical insurance system for urban and rural residents, gradually fulfill the mechanisms for stable, sustainable financing and reimbursement of basic medical insurance, and achieve medium- and long-term actuarial balance of funds.

By 2030, the actual reimbursement rate of basic medical insurance both for urban and rural residents will exceed 70 percent. 

Environmental protection and pollution control are of great significance to people’s health. The government will take action in dealing with the air, water, and ground pollution in industrial factories, dwellings and husbandry areas.

A regional medical science and technology innovation system must be established to strengthen resource integration and data sharing, and to carry out high-quality, large-scale, multicenter research. The government will provide supportive policies for demonstration clinical and pharmaceutical research centers. Breakthroughs in key areas such as advanced medical technologies in stem cells, regenerative medicine and biological therapy, will be awarded. 

It is hoped that by 2030, the contribution rate of technological innovation to the growth of the pharmaceutical industry will reach more than 50 percent, and the actual conversion rate of achievements will exceed over 30 percent.