Central-level agency announced to supervise disease control

A central-level disease control and prevention body, which was established amid the COVID-19 pandemic, will take charge of a range of work regarding building the country's emergency response capacity and regular monitoring of public health risks, according to a circular issued on Wednesday.

The document, jointly issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, stipulates that the National Administration of Disease Prevention and Control — the official name of the new agency — will also be tasked to supervise and manage local disease control agencies and disease control work at medical institutions.

Such responsibilities were previously dispersed among several bureaus of the National Health Commission — the country's top health authority.

The commission, a ministerial-level body, will still oversee the newly-established disease control agency, which is designated as being on a vice-ministerial level, according to the circular.

Two bureaus under the commission whose responsibilities are deemed as overlapping with the new disease control agency, such as its Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control, have been revoked, the circular said.

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 disease in late December of 2019, China has managed to curb its initial spread in Hubei province within four months and stem out a number of local outbreaks triggered by imported infections.

However, experts have called for improving the country's disease control system to better cope with health emergencies in the future.

In April of last month, China announced that Wang Hesheng, the incumbent vice-minister of the National Health Commission, was appointed head of the National Administration of Disease Prevention and Control, the first time that information about the new body was released to the public.

Its office, located in Beijing's Haidian district, was unveiled in May of last year.