China committed to achieving health for all

BEIJING -- As this year's World Health Day falls on Friday under the theme of "Health for All," China has been sparing no efforts in achieving that goal.

Over the past decades, the world has witnessed China's accomplishments in building a healthy China. Average life expectancy, a key gauge of the health level of a country's residents, has increased from 35 years in 1949 to 78.2 years in 2021 in China. Its basic medical insurance covers over 1.3 billion people. Severe infectious diseases, including smallpox, polio, and malaria, were eradicated in the country.

In the meantime, China has been sharing its public health successes with the globe, staying true to the initiative of building a global community of health for all.

HEALTHCARE AT DOORSTEP

For this year's World Health Day, China set a domestic theme of "channeling quality medical resources down to the community level to ensure health for all," aiming to facilitate people's convenient access to health services.

Receiving medical services used to be difficult for many Chinese people living in isolated areas. "It'd take me a whole day to go to the county by boat and bus to see a doctor and return," said Lin Zhongsu, an elderly citizen from a small island in east China's Zhejiang Province.

Things could not be more different now. At the medical facility on the island, a pair of glasses with 5G and AR technologies have enabled people like Lin to receive diagnosis and treatment from doctors based in big cities.

Such were the cases with numerous other citizens in the province where medical experts from higher-level hospitals were regularly dispatched and stationed in hill or island counties -- an epitome of what has been transpiring in China's healthcare picture recently.

The phenomena were supported by many state-level policies, not least after the country modified its approach to cope with COVID-19, as medical resources are ever more accessible to people at all levels.

In late February, a guideline on the development of the healthcare system in rural areas via deepening reforms was released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, highlighting the overall planning of resources at the county level as well as the medical personnel and medical insurance in rural areas.

In late March, another guideline was issued by the general offices on further improving the healthcare service system, underscoring the capacity of public healthcare services, especially at the primary level.

Even when it comes to a plan for the application of robots, released by 17 state departments in mid-January, medical care was noted as an area where robots should play a more significant role, which would allow robots to conduct surgeries on patients under the watch of remote doctors.

These stroke with the efforts dedicated to the Healthy China Initiative, as achieving health for all is the fundamental goal of building a healthy China, said Mao Qun'an, an official with the country's National Health Commission (NHC).

The points of strength should apply to the health of all groups and the whole lifecycle to provide fair, accessible, systematic, and consistent healthcare services, Mao said.

PUSHING FOR GLOBAL HEALTH

Over the past six decades, the country has sent medical teams consisting of 30,000 members to 76 countries and regions across five continents, providing 290 million diagnoses and treatments for local people.

Chinese medical teams are currently working at 115 sites in 56 countries. Nearly half are in remote areas with harsh conditions.

Yang Yi was among the 27th Chinese medical aid team who went to Africa in 2021. Yang's rich experience in acupuncture over 30 years has earned her a loyal following in remote Algeria.

"Behind the local people's trust in Chinese doctors is the legacy of the country's medical aid team members for generations," she said.

Besides relieving patients' pain with acupuncture, Yang has two Algerian students. She said that even if the Chinese doctors leave, acupuncture has taken root there.

In the face of the challenge of COVID-19, China has always acted on the vision of a global community of health for all, standing with the rest of the world while overcoming domestic difficulties. China has timely shared relevant information, data and experience, provided medical supplies for other countries, and carried out international cooperation.

China is also the first country to propose COVID-19 vaccines as a global public good, support a vaccine intellectual property rights exemption, and champion cooperation on vaccine production with developing countries.

While maintaining pragmatic cooperation with international organizations, the country co-organized the Ninth Global Conference on Health Promotion with the WHO in 2016. China officially received a malaria-free certification from the WHO in 2021.

"These represent China's proposals and strength for promoting global health," said He Zhaohua, an official with the NHC.