The BRICS nations have pledged to strengthen the integration of traditional medicine in their national healthcare systems to improve services, according to a declaration by the five nations released during a high-level meeting on Thursday.

"It is necessary to strengthen the integration of traditional medicine in the national healthcare system as a valuable means to promote and encourage the practice, education and training ... of traditional medicine to improve the quality and outreach of healthcare services," said the declaration, released during the BRICS Health Ministers Meeting and a High-Level Forum on Traditional Medicine in the port city of Tianjin.

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the meeting.

"Traditional medicine is an important carrier of fine traditional culture, and plays an important role in encouraging different civilizations to learn from each other and protect people's health," Xi said. "I hope various parties involved in the meeting will intensify exchanges and cooperation in health and learn from each other in traditional medicine to work together to cope with public health challenges."

It is the second time China has hosted such a meeting. The first BRICS Health Ministers Meeting was held in Beijing in 2011. The five countries have chosen priority areas for cooperation in the past six meetings, including intensifying health monitoring; research into tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria; and development and research into drugs, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are home to a total of more than 3 billion people, accounting for more than 40 percent of the world's population, and integrating traditional medicine into the countries' healthcare systems is crucial for achieving universal healthcare coverage, Shin Young-soo, World Health Organization regional director for the western Pacific, said in a speech during the meeting.

Wang Guoqiang, head of China's State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said: "Health cooperation has been an important part of cooperation between BRICS nations."

"Traditional medicine has played an indispensable role in protecting national health and carrying forward civilization, and intensifying cooperation in traditional medicine between BRICS nations is of great significance to benefiting people worldwide," Wang said.

Chen Kaixian, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who specializes in drug research, said, "To cope with global health challenges, such as common chronic noncommunicable diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and increasing medical costs, different countries need to integrate traditional medicine into the their modern medical and healthcare systems.

"For example, traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes healthcare and prevention of disease, and it can also be an effective means to help reduce medical costs."

The BRICS nations have pledged to strengthen the integration of traditional medicine in their national healthcare systems to improve services, according to a declaration by the five nations released during a high-level meeting on Thursday.

"It is necessary to strengthen the integration of traditional medicine in the national healthcare system as a valuable means to promote and encourage the practice, education and training ... of traditional medicine to improve the quality and outreach of healthcare services," said the declaration, released during the BRICS Health Ministers Meeting and a High-Level Forum on Traditional Medicine in the port city of Tianjin.

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the meeting.

"Traditional medicine is an important carrier of fine traditional culture, and plays an important role in encouraging different civilizations to learn from each other and protect people's health," Xi said. "I hope various parties involved in the meeting will intensify exchanges and cooperation in health and learn from each other in traditional medicine to work together to cope with public health challenges."

It is the second time China has hosted such a meeting. The first BRICS Health Ministers Meeting was held in Beijing in 2011. The five countries have chosen priority areas for cooperation in the past six meetings, including intensifying health monitoring; research into tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria; and development and research into drugs, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are home to a total of more than 3 billion people, accounting for more than 40 percent of the world's population, and integrating traditional medicine into the countries' healthcare systems is crucial for achieving universal healthcare coverage, Shin Young-soo, World Health Organization regional director for the western Pacific, said in a speech during the meeting.

Wang Guoqiang, head of China's State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said: "Health cooperation has been an important part of cooperation between BRICS nations."

"Traditional medicine has played an indispensable role in protecting national health and carrying forward civilization, and intensifying cooperation in traditional medicine between BRICS nations is of great significance to benefiting people worldwide," Wang said.

Chen Kaixian, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who specializes in drug research, said, "To cope with global health challenges, such as common chronic noncommunicable diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and increasing medical costs, different countries need to integrate traditional medicine into the their modern medical and healthcare systems.

"For example, traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes healthcare and prevention of disease, and it can also be an effective means to help reduce medical costs."

Ma gave a high appraisal to the achievements of Hebei’s maternal and children health service.

He noted that the Hebei provincial government has been focusing on maternal and child health services to strengthen its medical resources and improve service quality.

Ma urged Hebei province to continue that focus, advancing systems of diagnosis, assessment, reporting and treatment especially for senior and high risk pregnant women. 

Ma gave a high appraisal to the achievements of Hebei’s maternal and children health service.

He noted that the Hebei provincial government has been focusing on maternal and child health services to strengthen its medical resources and improve service quality.

Ma urged Hebei province to continue that focus, advancing systems of diagnosis, assessment, reporting and treatment especially for senior and high risk pregnant women. 

“The award I present to Minister Li Bin today recognizes the important contribution the Patriotic Health Campaign has made not only to China’s health, but to the world’s health,” said Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.

Dr Shin Young-soo presents the award for outstanding social health management to Minister Li Bin on July 5. 

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the mass Patriotic Health Campaign. Launched in the early 1950s in China, it was aimed at raising levels of sanitation and hygiene and controlling waterborne diseases.

The campaign helped to improve overall public health in China, said Li Bin, minister of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, adding that it created a “China miracle”.

“As we enter the era of sustainable development goals, there is much the world can learn from China's National Patriotic Health Campaign,” added Dr Shin Young-soo.

Over its 65-year history, the Patriotic Health Campaign has helped to achieve enormous improvements in health for the people of China.

On the global stage, the Patriotic Health Campaign provided one of the earliest models of multi-sectoral action for health by bringing together various government ministries and departments to work for the health of the people, said Shin Young-soo. 

According to Li Bin, the campaign is people-centered and has been keeping up with the pace of the times. What’s more, it focuses on disease prevention in an innovative way. 

China will stick to "Health in All Policies", and will make the Patriotic Health Campaign an effective carrier of the Healthy China policies, added Li.

Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, or BT, a bacteria that resides in and dominates the human intestinal tract, was found to be able to lower fat content in the diet and slow down weight gain, according to researchers from the Shanghai National Clinical Research Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases at Shanghai Ruijin Hospital.

The discovery, published online by the scientific journal Nature Medicine, has opened the door for further studies on the bacteria's employment in food and drugs that are expected to help lose weight, though more research still needs to be done to test its safety and efficiency.

"In the past, genetic and environmental factors have been cited as the main causes of obesity," said Ning Guang, chairman of the center and an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

"But the microbes living in the intestinal tract are the first to 'taste' food and serve as the leading cause of weight gain," he said.

The findings have been released at a time when the number of obese people in China - already the largest number worldwide - continues to rise and poses an increased health risk given the improved living standards and prevalence of modern sedentary lifestyles.

Worldwide, more than 2 billion people, or one-third of the global population, are now overweight or obese, according to a new study by The New England Journal of Medicine.

The study found that obesity numbers have tripled in children and young adults in countries like China, Brazil and Indonesia. Those numbers are particularly troubling because it means more young people are on track to become obese and develop health problems.

But the scientists at Ruijin Hospital discovered that BT has the capability to metabolize glutamate, the main ingredient in MSG - the intake of which could contribute to the high levels of overweight adults.

However, experts warned that the diet and genetic background of Chinese people are different to those of Westerners, and so are the microbes in their intestinal tract.

Therefore, the study results are more relevant to helping develop a new weight-loss drug for Chinese people, rather than their Western counterparts.

About 300 delegates, including health ministers of BRICS nations and some other countries, international organizations, including the World Health Organization, representatives from Tianjin's sister cities abroad, health experts and company executives, will participate in the meeting, Zhang Yang, director general of the commission's Department of International Cooperation, said at a news conference.

Seminars on the development and application of traditional medicine, and traditional medicine exhibitions and interactive activities on the use of traditional Chinese medicine will be held during the meeting, she said.

This will be the second time China hosts such a meeting. The first BRICS Health Ministers Meeting was held in Beijing in 2011. The five countries have chosen some priority areas for cooperation in the past six meeting, including intensifying health monitoring, research in tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria, and development and research into drugs, according to Zhang.

Exchanges and cooperation among BRICS nations in traditional medicine can promote familiarity and friendship between peoples of the countries and contribute to improved health of all the peoples, Zhu Haidong, deputy director general of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine's Department of International Cooperation, said.

All the five countries have their own traditional medicine and China has conducted exchanges and cooperation in the area with all the other nations, he said.

Traditional Chinese medicine is in use in 183 countries and regions, and acupuncture has been recognized by 103 members of the World Health Organization, Zhu said. Every year about 13,000 students from overseas come to China to study TCM, and about 200,000 overseas patients receive TCM services in China, he said.

Last year, China exported TCM products with a total value of more than $3.4 billion, according to the administration.

Wang Guoqiang, head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. China Daily

Of the new masters, 25 are men and five are women, and all have practiced TCM for at least 50 years, according to the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

They range in age from 66 to 96.

The award ceremony was held by the administration, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

"The masters should serve as role models for the country's TCM practitioners to wholeheartedly serve their patients, promote TCM, and help pass down the oriental medical science via education and training," Wang Guoqiang, head of the administration, said while addressing the ceremony.

According to Wang, it is the third time the Chinese government has recognized national TCM masters, bringing the total to 90.

Together with the 30 masters, another 99 TCM practitioners from across the country were awarded the title of "famous veteran TCM doctor".

Qi Xuan, a division director of human resources at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said that such high-level recognition encourages young TCM doctors.

Xu Runsan, 91, a TCM doctor at the hospital who specializes in gynecology, is one of the newly recognized masters.

"He's in good health and still sees patients every week," Qi said.

TCM is a medical science largely based on clinical experience and it requires lifelong dedication to become a good TCM doctor, she added.

Nationwide, Western medicine has become the mainstream and shoulders the lion's share of the overall supply of medical care services.

But the government has introduced a slew of measures and policies to facilitate TCM development.

China's top legislature late last year adopted a law on TCM, allowing it a bigger role in the country's medical system.

Wang Guoqiang, head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. China Daily

Of the new masters, 25 are men and five are women, and all have practiced TCM for at least 50 years, according to the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

They range in age from 66 to 96.

The award ceremony was held by the administration, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

"The masters should serve as role models for the country's TCM practitioners to wholeheartedly serve their patients, promote TCM, and help pass down the oriental medical science via education and training," Wang Guoqiang, head of the administration, said while addressing the ceremony.

According to Wang, it is the third time the Chinese government has recognized national TCM masters, bringing the total to 90.

Together with the 30 masters, another 99 TCM practitioners from across the country were awarded the title of "famous veteran TCM doctor".

Qi Xuan, a division director of human resources at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said that such high-level recognition encourages young TCM doctors.

Xu Runsan, 91, a TCM doctor at the hospital who specializes in gynecology, is one of the newly recognized masters.

"He's in good health and still sees patients every week," Qi said.

TCM is a medical science largely based on clinical experience and it requires lifelong dedication to become a good TCM doctor, she added.

Nationwide, Western medicine has become the mainstream and shoulders the lion's share of the overall supply of medical care services.

But the government has introduced a slew of measures and policies to facilitate TCM development.

China's top legislature late last year adopted a law on TCM, allowing it a bigger role in the country's medical system.

China has launched a multidepartmental effort to deal with occasional shortages of some prescription drugs for patients, the State Council Information Office said on Wednesday.

A guideline to improve the supply to prevent shortages was issued on Wednesday by nine government agencies, including the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

China has about 3,000 drugs approved for common clinical use, with 130 of them occasionally in short supply, according to Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

"That's mainly due to the market gap between supply and demand," Zeng said.

"Thanks to joint efforts by all stakeholders, 50 of the 130 drugs are seeing normal supply levels again," he said, adding that the latest guideline requires interdepartmental cooperation.

"It aims to ensure that the drugs are available－and safe－for people," he said. "It helps coordinate the drug supply system with reforms in medical care and health insurance."

Earlier reports said lower-priced drugs with relatively low clinical demand usually run out of stock, seriously undermining medical options and risking patients' lives.

Under the new guideline, an online drug consumption monitoring network will be set up to determine which drugs might run out and issue timely warnings about emerging needs so that the authorities can intervene.

The guideline calls for the creation of a cross-province coordinating system to alleviate regional shortages of certain drugs.

"Usually, the list of the drugs in short supply is dynamic," said Mao Ningying, associate professor at China Pharmaceutical University, adding that "the government should figure out why and provide targeted intervention".

Zeng said a nationwide drug monitoring network will help forecast consumption trends and potential supply gaps, which will buy time for intervention.

For certain drugs, consumption is difficult to forecast, he said, adding, "We are setting up a regular stocking mechanism".

He cited pralidoxime chloride as an example. The drug has been used to treat patients with pesticide poisoning who have attempted suicide.

"It's hard to predict suicides, but we have to stock the drug to save lives," he said.

For drugs in short supply nationally, Zeng said, emergency imports will be arranged. If that doesn't work, "the authorities will assign selected drug companies to produce more", he added.

China has launched a multidepartmental effort to deal with occasional shortages of some prescription drugs for patients, the State Council Information Office said on Wednesday.

A guideline to improve the supply to prevent shortages was issued on Wednesday by nine government agencies, including the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

China has about 3,000 drugs approved for common clinical use, with 130 of them occasionally in short supply, according to Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

"That's mainly due to the market gap between supply and demand," Zeng said.

"Thanks to joint efforts by all stakeholders, 50 of the 130 drugs are seeing normal supply levels again," he said, adding that the latest guideline requires interdepartmental cooperation.

"It aims to ensure that the drugs are available－and safe－for people," he said. "It helps coordinate the drug supply system with reforms in medical care and health insurance."

Earlier reports said lower-priced drugs with relatively low clinical demand usually run out of stock, seriously undermining medical options and risking patients' lives.

Under the new guideline, an online drug consumption monitoring network will be set up to determine which drugs might run out and issue timely warnings about emerging needs so that the authorities can intervene.

The guideline calls for the creation of a cross-province coordinating system to alleviate regional shortages of certain drugs.

"Usually, the list of the drugs in short supply is dynamic," said Mao Ningying, associate professor at China Pharmaceutical University, adding that "the government should figure out why and provide targeted intervention".

Zeng said a nationwide drug monitoring network will help forecast consumption trends and potential supply gaps, which will buy time for intervention.

For certain drugs, consumption is difficult to forecast, he said, adding, "We are setting up a regular stocking mechanism".

He cited pralidoxime chloride as an example. The drug has been used to treat patients with pesticide poisoning who have attempted suicide.

"It's hard to predict suicides, but we have to stock the drug to save lives," he said.

For drugs in short supply nationally, Zeng said, emergency imports will be arranged. If that doesn't work, "the authorities will assign selected drug companies to produce more", he added.

Cui congratulated Tedros (who is known by his first name) on his successful election. She noted that the Chinese government has been emphasizing cooperation with WHO and supporting its leading role in strengthening global health management. China is willing to strengthen cooperation with WHO in countries along the Belt and Road by increasing voluntary contributions and joint application of China's new funding mechanism projects.

Tedros expressed his gratitude for the Chinese government’s support. He said that WHO is glad to cooperate with China under the guidance of Belt and Road health cooperation documents signed by both sides. He hoped that China will play a bigger role in localized medical drug production and South-South cooperation in the health field. Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese ambassador to the permanent missions in Geneva, attended the meeting.

Cui also met with the interim executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. They exchanged ideas on structural reform of global funding, tripartite cooperation in Africa, localized drug production in recipient countries and professional training.

Cui gave a high appraisal of Chan's achievements during her ten years in office, which included strengthening of WHO's emergency response system, carrying out WHO's reform and integrating national health coverage into the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Cui said she expected that Chan will continue enthusiastically devoting her experience and wisdom to the health and well-being of the people of the world. 

Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese ambassador to the permanent missions in Geneva, said in his speech that Chan, as a Hong Kong citizen, was elected as director-general of WHO and successfully completed her term of office. In January, President Xi Jinping visited WHO and lauded Chan's achievements, hoping she will continue to contribute to global health. 

Chan expressed her gratitude for the Chinese government's support. She noted that the successful implementation of the "one country, two systems" policy had given her the chance to run in the election and successfully lead WHO in service for all people.

Newly-elected WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also spoke highly of Chan's achievements during her tenure of office. He promised to advance WHO's key projects and strengthen its cooperation with the Chinese government.

Cui congratulated Tedros (who is known by his first name) on his successful election. She noted that the Chinese government has been emphasizing cooperation with WHO and supporting its leading role in strengthening global health management. China is willing to strengthen cooperation with WHO in countries along the Belt and Road by increasing voluntary contributions and joint application of China's new funding mechanism projects.

Tedros expressed his gratitude for the Chinese government’s support. He said that WHO is glad to cooperate with China under the guidance of Belt and Road health cooperation documents signed by both sides. He hoped that China will play a bigger role in localized medical drug production and South-South cooperation in the health field. Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese ambassador to the permanent missions in Geneva, attended the meeting.

Cui also met with the interim executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. They exchanged ideas on structural reform of global funding, tripartite cooperation in Africa, localized drug production in recipient countries and professional training.

Cui gave a high appraisal of Chan's achievements during her ten years in office, which included strengthening of WHO's emergency response system, carrying out WHO's reform and integrating national health coverage into the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Cui said she expected that Chan will continue enthusiastically devoting her experience and wisdom to the health and well-being of the people of the world. 

Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese ambassador to the permanent missions in Geneva, said in his speech that Chan, as a Hong Kong citizen, was elected as director-general of WHO and successfully completed her term of office. In January, President Xi Jinping visited WHO and lauded Chan's achievements, hoping she will continue to contribute to global health. 

Chan expressed her gratitude for the Chinese government's support. She noted that the successful implementation of the "one country, two systems" policy had given her the chance to run in the election and successfully lead WHO in service for all people.

Newly-elected WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also spoke highly of Chan's achievements during her tenure of office. He promised to advance WHO's key projects and strengthen its cooperation with the Chinese government.

Guizhou's provincial health and family planning department has been paying great attention to providing better healthcare for the poor. It has set up a medical assistance system, promoting provisions of medical aid for people of Jianhe county with chronic diseases. 

Wang urged that health departments at all levels should make more effort and develop policies to ensure accessible and affordable medical care for people in poverty. 

"We should set up cohesive mechanism for basic medical insurance, critical illness insurance and medical aid systems, trying to provide treatment to every poor patient." said Wang.

Wang noted that health departments can effectively reduce the burden of medical expenses for poor people by the measures of "pay after diagnosis" and a tiered system of medical care. Medical institutions in poverty-stricken areas should generally improve their service quality.

Wang also inspected Taohuajiang health tourism demonstration base, setting out requirements for the combination of medical treatment and nursing.

He Li, vice-governor of Guizhou province, and relevant officials from the NHFPC accompanied Wang on his inspection. 

A 36-day old baby boy is rescued from the landslide site with his parents on June 24 and has a comprehensive check-up at West China Second University Hospital.

A group of medical staff from Dujiangyan People's Hospital reaches the landslide site in Southwest China's Sichuan province on June 24.

A 36-day old baby boy is rescued from the landslide site with his parents on June 24.

A 36-day old baby boy who was rescued from the Southwest China landslide site with his parents is in stable condition, according to local media reports.

The boy, nicknamed Chunchun, was rescued five hours after the landslide struck.

At the Maoxian county people's hospital, Southwest China’s Sichuan province, X-rays showed that the boy had pneumonia. There was also dust and dirt in his mouth and nose.

That same evening a treatment plan was finalized after remote consultation by doctors from several hospitals.

Duan Hongyu, a pediatrician, and Yang Lin, a PICU nurse from West China Second University Hospital, reached the Maoxian people's hospital near the disaster site at 10:30 pm.

Doctors said that the baby needed to be transferred to West China Second University Hospital after initial treatment for pneumonia as he had inhaled dust and muddy water.

He was quiet throughout the transfer and has been under intensive care by a special team at the hospital since noon of June 25.

The boy needs to undergo a general physical check-up, including blood tests and a chest examination, according to Duan.

"We need to comfort the baby's mother mentally," said Wang Suxia from the West China Second University Hospital. She said that it is important for the further treatment of the baby.

The baby's father has also been transferred to the hospital for further check-up and treatment.

Doctors discuss the treatment plan of the baby boy by a remote conference.

The baby is transferred to West China Second University Hospital on June 25.

The baby has a comprehensive check-up at West China Second University Hospital.

Jin Xiaotao (center), vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, inspects the disaster scene with local provincial health officials. 

A group of leading medical experts was urgently sent by China's top health watchdog to the landslide site in Southwest China's Sichuan province on June 24.

Six specialists in ICU, orthopedics, neurosurgery and psychology flew to the disaster scene on the evening of June 24 to join the local medical team.

Nine medical specialists from three Shanghai hospitals and a team from Chongqing municipality are standing by to join the rescue efforts.

Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, demanded sound guidance and support from the local medical staff to minimize the injuries and deaths.

Over 90 local medical staff rushed to the rescue site after the landslide struck the mountainous village of Xinmo in Maoxian County at about 6 am local time on June 24, and buried more than 120 people in 62 houses.

An estimated 18 million cubic meters of earth fell some 1,600 meters, engulfing half of Xinmo.

The provincial government has launched the highest level of disaster relief response and a desperate search for possible survivors is still underway.

A group of medical staff from Dujiangyan People's Hospital reaches the disaster site. 

1

Medical staff and rescue team members en route to the landslide site.

Sichuan provincial and local officials hold an urgent meeting to discuss about the rescue plan.

Cataract patients rest after surgery on Saturday on Lifeline Express, a mobile eye hospital. It's the seventh time the train has visited Kashgar, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, since it started in 1997. The train covers 28 provinces and has offered over 180,000 free cataract surgeries.[Photo by LI MINGFANG/XINHUA]

Social media tools are being used to peddle fake or shoddy food and drugs in China due to a lack of regulation, posing a serious public health risk, experts have warned.

Social commerce — the sale of goods via services like WeChat, Sina Weibo and livestreaming sites — was worth an estimated 360 billion yuan ($53.6 billion) last year, according to the Internet Society of China.

"The sector is growing rapidly and already employs more than 15 million people," said Yu Lijuan, head of its social commerce division.

Most of the goods sold are cosmetics and beauty products. However, food and drugs make up about one-third of all sales, the society's data show.

Li Wen, a division director at the Beijing Municipal Food and Drug Administration, said some traders are taking advantage of a lack of regulation on marketing and selling fake or substandard products on social media, primarily WeChat, which has 800 million users.

The current food and drug safety laws only cover e-commerce platforms like Taobao, while social commerce remains off the regulatory radar.

"As communication on social media can be highly personal and private, it's hard to detect and regulate such cases. This poses a public health risk," Li said, adding that the powers of food and drug inspectors should be enhanced.

A division set up in 2015 to oversee food and drug safety online launched a cleanup campaign last year targeting the sale of botulinum toxin, a cosmetic substance that reduces wrinkles better known by the brand name Botox. Wen said most of these products are substandard and have not been approved by the FDA.

Police in Huaihua, Hunan province, also busted a gang producing and selling fake weight loss products on WeChat in June last year.

The gang had been illegally adding sibutramine — a stimulant used for weight loss — to products and marketing them as natural health food, according to the city's public security bureau. The products were sold to buyers in 10 provinces, with several cases of people being poisoned.

Yu Lijuan said the social commerce sector needs systematic management. The central government is still working on China's first law on e-commerce, she said, and "that law should also address social commerce".

The Budapest Declaration announced on Monday will not only serve as an anchor document to guide future implementation of their medical cooperation strategy, but also become another catalyst for the Belt and Road Initiative, officials said.

The officials were attending the Third CEEC-China Health Ministers' Meeting, which began on Sunday and ends on Tuesday. Officials from Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Lithuania, Montenegro and other regional nations attended.

Medical cooperation, they said, has progressed greatly since China and Hungary upgraded their bilateral partnership to a comprehensive strategic one in May during the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong called such progress beneficial for the people of China and the CEEC.

Liu, together with CEEC health ministers and UNICEF officials, witnessed the signing of a group of healthcare and medical documents between China and the CEEC.

Other achievements include the establishment of the China-CEEC Human Resources for Health Cooperation Network, the China-CEEC Hospital Alliance official website and the China-CEEC Health Policy Research Network.

The ministers also signed memorandums of understanding and agreements for specific public health related programs in the municipality of Beijing and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The Health Economy Trade Exhibition also started in Budapest to promote health innovation cooperation and build a platform for health industries in China and the CEEC.

"The CEEC-China Health Ministers' Meeting was established to contribute to the exchange of knowledge between the participating counties, between decision-makers and experts alike," said Zoltan Balog, Hungarian minister of human resources."We are convinced that the 21st century will only be successful if we are able to take advantage of the opportunities for global and local cooperation."

Li Bin, minister of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, said the meeting further implements the Riga Guidelines for Cooperation between China and CEEC, adopted in November in Riga, Latvia, during the Fifth Summit of China and the CEEC.

Liu proposed the further dovetailing of health policies between China and the CEEC to cultivate more people-oriented programs, more cross-border communication of health-related information, greater people-to-people communication and talent training, enhanced cooperation and health technology innovation.

A new guideline from the National Health and Family Planning Commission aims to improve professionalism and services at hospitals and clinics through a variety of means, including education of medical staff, more severe punishment for irregularities and intensified supervision from health authorities to prevent corruption.

Though it was made public on Monday, the guideline was being adopted by hospitals since February, according to the commission.

Health authorities will launch targeted campaigns against violations such as overprescribing medicine, gender selection and theft of health insurance funds, the guideline said. 

The commission will establish a credit system covering institutes and staff, and those involved in irregularities will be publicly identified and banned from the sector, the guideline said.

Despite increasingly tighter supervision, more efforts are needed to improve the quality and safety of healthcare services and to get rid of irregularities and corruption, said Li Luping, an inspector of medical policy and supervision at the commission.

At a top hospital in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, medical staff are being asked to hand in all their illegal gains - such as from kickbacks from drug sales - that they have received since 2006, according to a report by MD Weekly, a newspaper owned by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association. The newspaper did not give the name of the hospital.

Qiu Yonggui, head of the outpatient department of Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, said the hospital is also launching a similar campaign and encouraging staff to voluntarily hand in all their illegal gains - including cash, shopping cards and gifts - by promising reduced punishment, according to the report.

"Medical staff must not be engaged in legal violations and irregularities such as accepting red envelopes or kickbacks with excuses such as that they have low pay," said Song Shuli, spokeswoman of the National Health and Family Planning Commission. "Red envelopes" refers to cash patients give to doctors.

"We will continue to intensify the fight against corruption in the health sector," Li said.

Cheng Nansheng, vice-president of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, said the hospital has been making greater efforts to increase communication with patients and to improve services in recent years.

"We are intensifying education for medical staff to improve their professional ethics and behavior," he said. "Many of them have also improved their communication skills with patients so they communicate in a more equal manner, which contributes to a better relationship with their patients." 

Poultry in two southern regions will begin receiving the first vaccine against the H7N9 bird flu virus early next month, as authorities look to control the spread of the potentially fatal disease.

Guangdong province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region have been chosen to test the new vaccine, as both are major centers of the poultry trade, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Evidence also indicates the "existence of highly pathogenic and low pathogenic strains of the H7N9 virus" in these areas, the authorities said.

The vaccine, developed by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, will be given to all chickens, ducks and geese.

Veterinary departments in the two regions will be responsible for administering the vaccine, monitoring side effects and reporting their findings to the central government.

About 22,000 chickens at a farm in Yulin, Shaanxi province, died on May 23 after being infected with H7N9, according to local authorities.

The provincial government intensified virus prevention and control measures, including slaughtering 23,000 birds, to bring the disease under control, the ministry said. 

The service, an app that works with WeChat, will require users to upload a photo of the affected area. An artificial intelligence-assisted system will then scan the photo to identify the problem.

The system, currently available only to doctors for testing, is expected to be opened to the public as early as October. It is being developed by the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha and a technology company, Danale, based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. 

"The technology will be used to assist in the diagnosis of common skin diseases by providing a reference for doctors, especially those at grassroots clinics, and to provide guidance for patients seeking treatment," said Lu Qianjin, director of the hospital's dermatology department.

Lu said the app has proved capable of diagnosing lupus, a rare skin disease, with 85 percent accuracy.

Skin diseases appear in a variety of forms, and some types resemble others, which makes diagnosis challenging for doctors, particularly those at the grassroots, Lu said.

"It's difficult to have a thorough knowledge of every type of skin disease, and doctors at grassroots face more challenges in accurate diagnosis since they see fewer patients," he said. "That's why we decided to develop the system - to aid in diagnosis."

As skin damage is a major clue in the diagnosis of skin diseases, conditions are easier to diagnose using Central South University's clinical database, which includes vast numbers of images, Lu said.

"When a doctor uploads an image of a skin condition to the system, the computer will evaluate the image and compare it with the massive image data it has stored. It can then provide a list of diagnosis results for reference," Lu said.

The system was first aimed at diagnosing lupus because the hospital has accumulated a large number of photos of the disease over the past 20 years, Lu said.

Jin Lu, a technology supervisor at Danale, said the company will intensify research and development so the system will be upgraded to support the diagnosis of other skin diseases with improved accuracy.

With the quick development of technology in China, AI is playing a more important role in the medical care sector. In March, Baheal Pharm, a Chinese company that focuses on health, announced a partnership with IBM to introduce Watson for Oncology - a cognitive computing platform designed to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of some common cancers - to medical institutions in China. 

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong expressed her gratitude to the winners of the Chinese Population Award and the staff members of population and health departments.  

Li Jinhua, the president of the China Population Welfare Foundation, noted that with 30 years of development the foundation has grown into a social organization cooperating with international institutions and is well-known both at home and abroad. The achievements were hard-won, and were accomplished by China’s leaders, people of all social circles and the foundation's staff. 

"The China Population Welfare Foundation will make more effort to build itself into a charitable organization with friendliness and integrity," Li said.

Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) said in her address that health and family planning departments at all levels should encourage social groups to contribute to people’s health and happiness. 

"We should make more efforts to ensure and promote the development of public welfare undertakings. Health and family departments should strengthen their guidance for public welfare, helping social organizations to fully play their roles," Li added.

The symposium, in addition to welcoming representatives of the winners of the Chinese Population Award and the aided persons of Happiness Project and Health and Warm Heart Project, was also attended by officials from relevant national departments and social organizations.

BUDAPEST, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong attended Sunday the groundbreaking ceremony for a new building of the Semmelweis University's Faculty of Health Sciences in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

The building will house the China-CEEC (Central and Eastern European Countries) Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Center.

The Chinese official was here to attend the opening ceremony of the third health ministers' forum between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) scheduled for June 18 to 21 in Hungary.

"Traditional Chinese Medicine is a treasure of the Chinese nation, it does not only belong to China, but also to the world," she said at the ceremony.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced in May this year to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Hungary, she said, adding that the two governments proposed to deepen cooperation in the field of health, especially in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

She said that this opened up vast space for Chinese medicine cooperation. "It is gratifying to see that Hungary takes the lead in legislating and enacting rules for practicing Chinese medicine in Europe, recognizing and accepting Chinese medicine for national service," Liu said.

"I hope that the two countries' universities will create together a high level platform of Chinese medicine education cooperation to train more Chinese medicine experts in need," she added.

She hoped that "the two countries' medical experts will work together in close collaboration, and take complementary advantages of Chinese and Western medicine, to explore a new model of Chinese and Western medicine to overcome disease."

"I hope that the Chinese medicine center will not only impart knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine, but also show the traditional Chinese culture and philosophical wisdom, and promote the cooperation in Traditional Chinese Medicine between China and Hungary to become a bright 'business card' to deepen the health cooperation between the two countries and to promote cultural exchanges between them," she said.

State Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Human Capacities Bence Retvari also said at the ceremony "This step is not only an important cornerstone for the Hungarian education, but also for the Chinese-Hungarian medical cooperation," adding "Traditional Chinese Medicine is going to play an important role in education, in research and also in healing."

Liu Yandong listened to the introduction of Traditional Chinese Medicine educational cooperation between the Semmelweis University in Budapest and the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine in Harbin in northeast China, and the preparations of the Central and Eastern European Traditional Chinese Medical Education and Training Center to be built. She also visited the Traditional Chinese Medicine classrooms and observed the students' clinical practice.

In 2010, the two universities signed a cooperation agreement for jointly starting a five-year TCM program in order to train Hungarian TCM professionals.

The program follows a "4+1" model, that is, students study the TCM program at the Faculty of Health Sciences, in the Semmelweis University for the first four years, and complete clinical practice at the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine in the fifth year.

The first batch of Hungarian graduates have successfully completed their studies and obtained their diplomas in 2016. The two sides renewed their cooperation agreement in 2017. 

The project, developed by the Health and Family Planning Commission of Beijing's Chaoyang district and the International Primary Care Association, will last two years, the paper said.

Medical experts from the United States will regularly visit community hospitals in Jinsong, Gaobeidian, Balizhuang and Taiyanggong over the next two years to provide service for patients and training for doctors, the report said.

On Thursday, Gary Morsch and Ronnie Martin, two family physicians from the US, visited a health service center in Gaobeidian and held a training session for 27 family doctors, the report said.

"Our doctors are trained by watching how the US professionals receive and treat patients," an official of the district's health authority said. "More residents in Chaoyang district will enjoy medical care from the US in the future."

The official added that the one-week training sessions will be given every two months.

Training will mainly cover areas such as how to communicate with patients and conduct medical studies. The project will also organize members to learn abroad, aiming to educate 100 family physicians and establish four international family doctor bases in Chaoyang district. 

In late April, Tumor Biology, a journal published by Germany-based Springer Nature, announced it had retracted the papers after an investigation showed the peer review process had been compromised. 

Nearly all of the 524 authors connected with the papers are clinical cancer doctors at key public hospitals.

The ministry said it would launch a thorough investigation into the incident, an unidentified division director of the ministry told China Central Television on Wednesday. Results will be made public, and anyone found with misconduct will be punished, the TV report said.

Other scientific projects related to the authors are also being investigated, and may be halted.

Previous reports said third-party agencies were found helping some authors fake the peer reviews.

In China, it's not rare for researchers to give their draft papers to third-party agencies for language polishing and other related services.

To advance and secure more research funds under the current evaluation system, clinical doctors in China are under immense pressure to publish papers in reputable journals.

The ministry vowed during Wednesday's interview to clean up such activity, which was deemed a regulatory gray area.

He Defang, the ministry's law and regulation chief, said retractions are a normal way for academic journals to redress mistakes concerning questionable papers. But such a mass retraction "is abnormal and irresponsible", he said.

He said a single incident cannot tarnish the positive image of Chinese scientific researchers as a whole.

"Mainstream science workers in the country are highly devoted to advancing science and are honest," he said. 

Wang Chen, president of China-Japan Friendship Hospital and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in an interview on Thursday that COPD is now the No 3 killer in China, after cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, and cancer.

COPD is a group of progressive life-threatening lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. China has nearly 87 million sufferers, according to official estimates.

"But awareness among the public and even medical professionals remains low, which leads to a poor detection rate and treatment," Wang said.

"Many patients are not aware of the condition until it's too late, when they develop serious symptoms like breathlessness," said Wang, who is also a lung specialist.

Without timely intervention, the prevalence of the disease will climb because of risk factors such as air pollution, an aging population and smoking, he warned.

Roughly 8.6 percent of China's population has the disease, which is more likely to hit the elderly, data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission show.

Worldwide, about 5 percent of all annual deaths are caused by COPD, which translates to at least 3 million deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Notably, more than 90 percent of COPD deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.

Wang urged the Chinese government to pay more attention to chronic lung disease and come up with systematic interventions, as with other major chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension.

He suggested those over 40 suffering shortness of breath and chronic cough go for a breathing test called spirometry, which measures how much and how quickly a person can forcibly exhale air.

The disease cannot be cured but current treatments can help relieve symptoms, improve life quality and reduce the risk of death.

To enhance response and capacity at the grassroots level health institutions, Wang's hospital formed a nationwide alliance to curb COPD.

The alliance will standardize diagnosis and treatment across the country and facilitate big data research into the disease, he said. 

A group photo of the representatives at the Lifeline Express project

Cui Li, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), attended the 20th Anniversary (1997-2017) Symposium of Lifeline Express project in Beijing on June 13.

Cui gave high praise to the Lifeline Express project and reviewed the project's achievements over the past 20 years. 

Lifeline Express is a project focused on providing better medical services for people living in poverty, especially in destitute areas. The project originated in Hong Kong and provides services for people in the mainland's poor areas. 

Cui hopes that the Lifeline Express project can catch the new tread of global health development, meet the needs of people's health and respond to new challenges of health, making its contribution to the health cooperation of Belt and Road Initiative.

More than 200 doctors, patients, and representatives from groups, enterprises, and mobile hospitals took part in the symposium.

Lifeline Express, which was founded in 1997, is the sole mobile Eye-Hospital Train providing free surgical operations in China. It is also a base for training eye doctors, an NGO committed to help needy cataract victims, and a loving charity group.

Song Shuli, deputy director of the Communication Department of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, addresses the media training on adolescent health and development in Beijing on June 14. [Photo by Li Xuemin]

China will keep on improving media reports on adolescent health and development to foster a better environment and social atmosphere for adolescents’ growth, according to a senior health official

Song Shuli, deputy director of the Communication Department of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, made the remarks at a media training session held in Beijing on June 14.

More than 50 media representatives who specialize in health reporting attended the training.

"Healthy China cannot be achieved without healthy children," said Song, adding that health literacy is important for youth.

Song said that adolescent health and development is crucial to social and economic development, and that the media's work is important to create a good environment for it.

Douglas Noble, UNICEF deputy representative to China, pointed out that although adolescence is an important phase in life, the health and development of that age group does not gain enough attention in many countries. Adolescents are still facing problems of injuries, lack of exercise, and sexuality.

Yao Hongwen, director of the China Population Communication Center (CPCC), also delivered a speech at the meeting, reviewing the CPCC’s work in this area and saying that the CPCC will continue to support UNICEF and other organizations in promoting the health and development of adolescents.

Several experts introduced academic research on adolescent brain science and conditions of adolescent health around the world.

Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Child and Adolescent Health of Peking University, outlined the health literacy of Chinese adolescents in five aspects, including physical health and growth, disease prevention, and nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

"Improving health literacy is quite important for adolescents," said Ma. "Maintaining a healthy lifestyle from early childhood will have a pressing practical significance and long-lasting impact on future development."

Positive emotion, good psychological traits and positive social support are important to the wellbeing of adolescents, according to Professor Lin Danhua from Beijing Normal University.

She said that good education to form a sound personal character should be the first focus.

After that, firmness in academic development and psychological resilience are also important, added Lin.

Delegates at the training session engaged in in-depth discussions throughout the event.

The training was co-held by the China Population Communication Center and UNICEF.

A university hospital in Hunan province is developing an online service to accurately diagnose skin conditions in seconds, as well as offer advice on where to seek treatment.

The service, an app that works with WeChat, will require users to upload a photo of the affected area. An artificial intelligence-assisted system will then scan the photo to identify the problem.

The system, currently available only to doctors for testing, is expected to be opened to the public as early as October. It is being developed by the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha and a technology company, Danale, based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

"The technology will be used to assist in the diagnosis of common skin diseases by providing a reference for doctors, especially those at grassroots clinics, and to provide guidance for patients seeking treatment," said Lu Qianjin, director of the hospital's dermatology department.

Lu said the app has proved capable of diagnosing lupus, a rare skin disease, with 85 percent accuracy.

Skin diseases appear in a variety of forms, and some types resemble others, which makes diagnosis challenging for doctors, particularly those at the grassroots, Lu said.

"It's difficult to have a thorough knowledge of every type of skin disease, and doctors at grassroots face more challenges in accurate diagnosis since they see fewer patients," he said. "That's why we decided to develop the system - to aid in diagnosis."

As skin damage is a major clue in the diagnosis of skin diseases, conditions are easier to diagnose using Central South University's clinical database, which includes vast numbers of images, Lu said.

"When a doctor uploads an image of a skin condition to the system, the computer will evaluate the image and compare it with the massive image data it has stored. It can then provide a list of diagnosis results for reference," Lu said.

The system was first aimed at diagnosing lupus because the hospital has accumulated a large number of photos of the disease over the past 20 years, Lu said.

Jin Lu, a technology supervisor at Danale, said the company will intensify research and development so the system will be upgraded to support the diagnosis of other skin diseases with improved accuracy.

With the quick development of technology in China, AI is playing a more important role in the medical care sector. In March, Baheal Pharm, a Chinese company that focuses on health, announced a partnership with IBM to introduce Watson for Oncology - a cognitive computing platform designed to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of some common cancers - to medical institutions in China.

An American student gives a thumbs up after experiencing the traditional Chinese therapy of "tuina", which literally means "push-and-pinch” in Central China’s Henan province on June 13 as part of a TCM cultural exchange program. [Photo/Xinhua]

A group of American students experience Chinese medical massage. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese medical massage is a new experience for most American students. [Photo/Xinhua]

American students enjoy Chinese medical massage. [Photo/Xinhua]

Tai chi, an internal Chinese martial art, proved interesting to US students at the Henan Vocational College of Tuina. [Photo/Xinhua]

Fan Xingyi, 18, donates blood for the first time on June 14 after finishing the college entrance examination. She considers it a special coming-of-age ceremony. [Photo by Yin Yan and Mu Jian/People’s Daily]

Henan Health and Family Planning Commission asked that public hospitals at all levels should define their functional orientation and improve the efficiency of resource utilization. Public hospitals should end markups on drug prices, which means to reduce drug prices and lower hospital operating costs as well as standardize medical service behavior.

Henan health authorities encourage public hospitals' rational use of drug and medical materials. The adjusted price of medical service should be included in health insurance coverage. Government compensation should be put in place in time to ensure that hospitals' burdens don't increase.

Henan province will set up evaluation and accountability mechanisms to ensure the public hospital reform can be effectively carried out.

Li Bin (second from left), head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, visits patients in Shiqu county in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

An inspection team from China's top health watchdog learned about the prevention and treatment of echinococcosis, a parasitic tapeworm, in a local county in Southwest China's Sichuan province on June 9.

The Shiqu county of Sichuan province is one of the highest epidemic areas of echinococcosis in China.

A joint pilot program to fight the disease was launched in November of 2015 by the National Health and Family Planning Commission and Sichuan province.

The inspection team visited the local health center and safe watering points and talked with local people, medical personnel and patients.

Li Bin, head of the commission, spoke highly of the achievements of the pilot program over its operational period and summarized it into four points: setting up and improving procedures and mechanisms, effectively regulating and controlling the source of infection, improving publicity and education, and implementing effective diagnosis and treatment.

With a composite technology comprising eye scans, fingerprints and identity documents, screening for the disease can be precise, said Li.

A special treatment project can also ease the burden of patients, she added.

Li emphasized that the prevention and treatment of echinococcosis is complex and hard. She encouraged local health personnel to work harder in the campaign.

She said all people should increase their awareness and make sure phased objectives can be achieved.

A coordinated prevention and treatment working mechanism should be established, said Li.

Modern technology and on-the-job training should also be enhanced to support a professional and highly-efficient medical team, according to Li.

The study, led by Yu Hongjie and fellow researchers at Fudan University's Public Health Institute in Shanghai, is based on information from all lab-confirmed human cases of H7N9 reported in the Chinese mainland as of late February.

The findings were published in Lancet Infectious Diseases this month. 

A surge in human infections with the latest outbreak in China has prompted pandemic concerns. The study aimed to describe the epidemiological traits of the virus and to estimate the risks, according to Yu.

In the study, virus samples collected in February from two human cases in Guangdong province were confirmed to have the mutation that made the virus capable of causing sickness and death in infected poultry as well.

China reported its first human H7N9 case in 2013, and outbreaks have occurred since then during the winter and spring.

Before the current outbreak, most infected birds did not show any symptoms, the study said. There has been no poultry vaccination against H7N9.

Notably, the number of human cases reported over the same period has more than doubled from previous epidemics, the study found, deepening concerns over mutations enabling the virus to easily jump between people - which could lead to a global spread.

Bernhard Schwartlander, China representative of the World Health Organization, told China Daily that the risk of human-to-human transmission is low, as the virus does not appear to transmit easily from person to person.

"However, experts agree that it is not a question of if, but when, the virus will adapt in ways that facilitate sustained human-to-human transmission," he warned.

It is imperative that policymakers in China identify a suite of immediate interventions, including live poultry market closures and poultry vaccination as a requirement for market access, he said.

Yu agreed, aes should be permanent.

Roughly 70 percent of infected patients reported live poultry exposure, mostly at the markets, the study found. More than 40 percent of the patients who were hospitalized died.

Schwartlander also urged Chinese authorities to remain vigilant and reinforce surveillance and control efforts to contain the virus.

Experts said well-cooked chicken is safe to eat. 

A new guideline from the National Health and Family Planning Commission aims to improve professionalism and services at hospitals and clinics through a variety of means, including education of medical staff, more severe punishment for irregularities and intensified supervision from health authorities to prevent corruption.

Though it was made public on Monday, the guideline was being adopted by hospitals since February, according to the commission.

Health authorities will launch targeted campaigns against violations such as overprescribing medicine, gender selection and theft of health insurance funds, the guideline said. 

The commission will establish a credit system covering institutes and staff, and those involved in irregularities will be publicly identified and banned from the sector, the guideline said.

Despite increasingly tighter supervision, more efforts are needed to improve the quality and safety of healthcare services and to get rid of irregularities and corruption, said Li Luping, an inspector of medical policy and supervision at the commission.

At a top hospital in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, medical staff are being asked to hand in all their illegal gains - such as from kickbacks from drug sales - that they have received since 2006, according to a report by MD Weekly, a newspaper owned by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association. The newspaper did not give the name of the hospital.

Qiu Yonggui, head of the outpatient department of Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, said the hospital is also launching a similar campaign and encouraging staff to voluntarily hand in all their illegal gains - including cash, shopping cards and gifts - by promising reduced punishment, according to the report.

"Medical staff must not be engaged in legal violations and irregularities such as accepting red envelopes or kickbacks with excuses such as that they have low pay," said Song Shuli, spokeswoman of the National Health and Family Planning Commission. "Red envelopes" refers to cash patients give to doctors.

"We will continue to intensify the fight against corruption in the health sector," Li said.

Cheng Nansheng, vice-president of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, said the hospital has been making greater efforts to increase communication with patients and to improve services in recent years.

"We are intensifying education for medical staff to improve their professional ethics and behavior," he said. "Many of them have also improved their communication skills with patients so they communicate in a more equal manner, which contributes to a better relationship with their patients." 

Cui said the Chinese government has always paid great attention to people’s health. She hopes that China and Norway could further cooperate to enrich their shared medical resources, pushing the two countries’ cooperation into a new age.

Normann said she believes that there is a broad array of prospects for Sino-Norwegian health cooperation. In the next step, Norway will strengthen its policy dialogue with China, sharing the experience of healthcare reform.

Co-organized by the Norwegian embassy in China and the NHFPC, the forum was one of the activities for the Norwegian prime minister’s state visit in China. Relevant officials from NHFPC attended the forum. 

According to the document, the institutions should formulate and carry out regulations about contagious disease pre-examination and triage, isolation treatment, hospital infection management and referrals. 

Hospitals should strengthen testing on AIDS and tuberculosis, taking timely protective measures if patients are detected with contagious diseases or carry pathogens. Medical institutions designated for non-infectious diseases should transfer patients to those designated for infectious diseases for treatment.

All medical institutions should enhance hospital infection management to stop iatrogenic transmissions. Outpatient departments with high risk of infectious disease transmission such as fever or diarrhea clinics or emergency and blood transfusion departments should take strict protective measures.

The document stresses that medical institutions should set up an infectious disease reporting system and raise awareness of infectious diseases in the general public and especially among vulnerable people. 

CMC is not yet a household name outside China, but those who have visited the incubator have been impressed with its scale and achievements during the past seven years, Zhou says.

Essentially, the incubator－in Taizhou, Zhejiang province－is a 30-square-kilometer area that houses offices, research centers and factories that host 700 medical companies, including big names such as Britain's AstraZeneca, Japan's Takeda and Germany's Boehringer-Ingelheim.

CMC's UK office, however, which goes by the name CMC-UK Incubator, has a more modest presence. The office in London is used regularly to host events that help British medical companies understand China's medical industry regulations, meet potential Chinese investors and prepare for long-term Chinese expansion.

The office does not have laboratory space: Essentially it is more of a virtual incubator and a knowledge-sharing platform.

"Often, British medical companies find it difficult to tackle China's medical market, due to unfamiliarity with the country's complex medical regulations, especially at a time when China is reforming those regulations," Zhou says. "So our London-based team can give hands-on advice to British businesses and connect them with experts in China."

So far, feedback from British medical companies has been positive. Susan Greenfield, co-founder of Oxford-based Neuro-Bio, says: "We have met some scientists in London, introduced to us by China Medical City's London team, and had some interesting preliminary discussions."

She said she hopes the CMC-UK Incubator platform will be able to help her team find Chinese partners who can help in the rapid screening of drug candidates and offer access to blood samples so the company can widen its studies.

Will Addison, founder of London-based Apta Biosciences, says his team may consider establishing a subsidiary at CMC's headquarters in Taizhou. He says CMC's established ecosystem, including its collection of life-science companies and talent, is highly attractive for international companies.

"We want to first enter China by finding a good partner, and, hopefully, we can do it at CMC," says Addison, who just returned from a visit to the special area in Taizhou.

CMC's UK expansion was praised by Jiang Sunan, minister counselor for science and technology at the Chinese embassy.

"China Medical City's expansion into the UK creates an important platform for Chinese and British companies to explore new business opportunities," Jiang says. "The two countries' complementarity in the medical and life-science sectors is immense."

Jiang notes that China's medical industry has grown quickly in recent years because of strong market demand and thanks to the Chinese government, which has offered vigorous support for research and development work within the sector.

"Government support creates a good environment for companies to develop and grow," Jiang says.

The strong government backing was a major reason the CMC attracted 700 medical companies during its first seven years, he says.

Established in 2010, CMC is the first government-backed national-level medical incubator to be established with the objective of attracting more international medical companies to commercialize and manufacture their products in China. It was set up through the joint efforts of several government agencies, including the Ministry of Technology, the Ministry of Health, the China Food and Drug Administration and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Such strong government backing for CMC has huge implications for its member businesses. CMC's support team has been able to use its in-depth knowledge of China's medical regulations to help member businesses fill in regulatory approval documents in the right format and fulfill all relevant criteria to increase the speed and likelihood of approval.

British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, for example, started building a $230 million (205 million euros; £179 million) factory inside the CMC in 2011. Construction of the new factory finished in 2014, and a few months later it received a GMP－good manufacturing practice－license that enabled it to transfer the production of four key drugs from its factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, to Taizhou.

Huang Bin, vice-president of AstraZeneca China, says CMC's support helped his team receive the license three to six months quicker than otherwise might have. Without CMC's help, the process would have taken longer because his team is less familiar with China's drug manufacturing license application processes.

"Time is money for us," Huang says. "Getting fast license approval translates directly into revenue."

AstraZeneca now produces hundreds of millions of pills a year at the factory, and will start exporting them to Europe this year.

By CMC's own estimates, it has helped medical companies reduce regulatory approval time by 60 to 90 percent, depending on the type of license sought. It says the fact that the China Food and Drug Administration, the Institute for Drug Control and the Medical Device Testing Institute all have offices within CMC means the process of inspecting CMC-based medical companies is quicker and easier to organize.

And the CMC's close partnership with China's medical regulators means it can play the role of a catalyst in enacting regulatory changes to better accommodate new products aimed at China, says Wang Linlin, director of the China Food and Drug Administration's branch at CMC.

For example, when Nestle wanted to manufacture food for special medical purposes－or FSMP－in China a few years ago, it was initially unable to, because regulations in China historically did not allow such production by foreign companies, Wang says.

FSMP food is often given to patients with special dietary requirements, such as those with impaired digestive function. The first batch of FSMP that Nestle will make in China, for example, will have a collection of thickening agents that make the food easier to swallow for stroke patients.

Wang's team at the administration worked with CMC staff and Nestle to create regulatory changes to ensure the possibility of FSMP manufacturing in China by foreign companies, and to guarantee the quality and safety of such food.

"We then worked with the National Development and Reform Commission to make FSMP an encouraged category of foreign investment to attract more investment in this area," she says.

Wang's team at CMC also supported Nestle's factory construction process, which began in 2015 and is set to be completed by the end of this year.

Having established a good record in helping international companies at its headquarters in Taizhou, CMC's UK expansion immediately attracted the attention of British companies. The office opening also comes at a time of strong UK-China collaboration in the life sciences.

In December, 11 China-UK healthcare deals with a total value exceeding 250 million pounds were signed in Shanghai, during the visit of Jeremy Hunt, Britain's secretary of state for health. In February, Alok Sharma, Britain's minister for Asia and the Pacific, led a delegation of UK healthcare companies to showcase technology in China.

Despite its advantages, CMC faces stiff competition from other science parks and incubators in China.

Suzhou Industrial Park, for example, hosts the British medical manufacturing company Smith & Nephew and British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmith Kline.

Meanwhile, critics have observed that CMC UK Incubator's lack of physical laboratory space could make collaboration difficult.

"Some life-science companies may wish to keep their core research and development team together, so CMC could improve their value proposition if they had physical lab space in the UK, where British companies can work with Chinese investors and partners who come to the UK," says Peter Crane, development officer of the Oxford-based accelerator Innovation Forum.

HANGZHOU - Alibaba founder Jack Ma and his business partners have donated 560 million yuan ($82 million) to a hospital in East China's Zhejiang province.

Of the money, 300 million yuan is from the Jack Ma Foundation, 100 million from Alibaba Group, 110 million from the group's 17 founders and partners, and 50 million yuan from Yunfeng Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jack Ma and Target Media founder David Yu.

The money was donated to The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University Friday, and will be used for training, research and development (R&D).

Wang Weilin, president of the hospital, said the money will help improve the hospital's services.

Zhejiang University and Alibaba Group previously signed a strategic cooperation agreement on frontier technology, such as artificial intelligence, medical health, big data and social sciences.

China has 5.53 million households - 7.34 million people - stuck in poverty as a result of medical costs, according to data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Roughly 3.3 million have severe medical conditions, such as cancer, whose treatment is expensive.

Li Bin, head of the commission, pledged on Thursday to ensure that every severely ill person gets appropriate treatment by 2020.

"No one will be left behind," she said in a speech at a national conference on poverty relief and health in Chengdu, Sichuan province. "That goal is crucial to the massive national poverty relief campaign." 

The central government has vowed to lift all the country's rural poor out of poverty by 2020 to build a moderately prosperous society.

But the phenomenon in which people sink back into poverty because of major diseases continues to happen, "which is also the case in other parts of the world", said Zeng Yunguang, a divisional director of the commission.

In response, the commission is working closely with other government departments, to devise and implement a sustainable and cross-departmental plan to avert poverty related to medical expenses in the long run.

Independent insurance protecting against the cost of major disease will be further fine-tuned to benefit as many patients struggling against poverty as possible, Zeng said.

To date, every person in poor regions is covered by the insurance, which complements the basic health policy for the rural population, widely known as the new rural cooperative medical plan.

"The two policies work together to further relieve the economic burden of large medical bills," he said.

In many places, the premium for the major disease policy is substantially subsidized by local governments. Last year, under the twin policies, hospitalized patients can receive reimbursement for 67 percent of the costs on average, he said.

The percentage varies regionally but "will be further raised", he added.

Li encouraged local governments to try different approaches depending on local conditions. In Anhui province, for instance, the local administration has allocated money from a special fund to ensure medical treatment for the impoverished. Thanks to that, an annual cap of 3,000 yuan was introduced for out-of-pocket medical costs at county-level hospitals.

As of the end of May, more than 2.6 million people with major diseases have benefited from the concerted nationwide effort. But at the end of last year, China still had more than 43 million impoverished rural residents, according to government statistics. 

After years of effort China has established a network of basic medical care to safeguard its people’s health, initiating methods suiting China’s national condition to enhance fairness, accessibility, quality and efficiency, according to Li.

China held a national conference on health and wellness in 2016, at which President Xi Jinping put forward that public health should be considered in all policies. 

China also held the Global Conference on Health Promotion in November 2016 and released the Shanghai Declaration on Promoting Health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, noting that health and wellness play an important role in the agenda.

China has built a good health system, which is well coordinated with departments of health and the family planning commission, agriculture, education, environment and human resources and social security, said Li.

The Chinese government has achieved breakthroughs in providing a tiered system of medical care, hospital management, universal health care, drug supply and comprehensive supervision. China focused on health capacity building at the community-level and assembled quality medical resources to be distributed to local areas. China has set up an integrated medical service system for disease prevention, health promotion, treatment and rehabilitation.

Li noted that the Chinese government is willing to support WHO to promote health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The surgery was successfully performed thanks to the 'da Vinci System', an advanced robotic surgical system designed to facilitate complex surgical procedures using robotic arms and 3D console with minimal invasive approach.

In the surgery, the HIV-infected patient had to go through a procedure removing tumors from the pancreas. If done with the traditional approach, the operation would require surgeons and nurses to have close direct contact with the patient, increasing the risk of medical staff being infected.

With da Vinci System, however, the surgeon could sit and operate by the console meters away, looking into the 3D high resolution camera, rotating the robotic arms inside the patient’s body and performing separation, cutting, electrocoagulation and seaming with relative ease.

During the four-hour operation, the total blood loss was less than 100 milliliters, which also meant the patient's recovery time should be reduced compared to traditional surgical methods.

"Thanks to the technology, the risk of infection is nearly zero for the main operator and extremely low for our assistant surgeons and nurses", said Liu Rong, director of the Research Center of Hepatobiliary Surgery Department.

In fact, it was Liu who introduced da Vinci System into China and performed the first robotic surgery back in 2011.

In February this year, Liu's team at Chinese PLA General Hospital carried out its record-breaking 1000th operation, becoming the first center to complete over a thousand hepatobiliary surgeries with the da Vinci System internationally.

Da Vinci System was first invented in 1999 by US firm Intuitive Surgical. The robotic surgical system was named after the great Italian artist for his contribution to the study of human anatomy. In US, 1.7 million patients received robotic surgery between 2007 and 2013. 

Li Bin, Minister of the China National Health and Family Planning Commission, shared the experience of China in achieving a better system for health care at the first day of the 70th World Health Assembly (WHA).

China, she said, has been making rapid progresses through a hierarchical medical system, hospital management reform, wider medical insurance, better medicine supplies and comprehensive supervision.

"China emphasizes the establishment of a sound health system through innovation, and gives full consideration to the universality, sociality and integrity of the related factors," she noted.

According to the minister, related authorities like agriculture, education, environment, human resources and social security departments have all joined hands in the public health care efforts so as to form a government-led and demand-oriented health care system.

She said China will arrange closer partnerships between top-tier hospitals and grassroots medical services to provide health management and health care services for urban and rural residents alike in a more inclusive and coherent manner.

The goal for this medical partnership is to make quality medical care more accessible to the wider public, the Minister said, especially in less-developed areas and the grass-root level.

The Chinese government is also planning to take further steps in allocating high quality medical resources to wider regions by dispatching teams of medical professional to less developed areas with enhanced sharing and inter-operating of health and medical services.

As part of the plan, the China National Health and Family Planning Commission recently announced that family doctor services will be extended to over 85 percent of Chinese cities, covering 30 percent of the urban population and over 60 percent of priority groups in 2017.

The 70th WHA, the main decision-making body of the World Health Organization, opened at the Geneva-based UN headquarters on Monday.

During the 10-day session, this year's assembly will determine policies on a range of health issues, including medicines and health products, non-communicable diseases, health emergencies, as well as maternal, new-born, child and adolescent health.

Up to 531,302 cases of infectious diseases were reported on the mainland last month, statistics from the National Health and Family Planning Commission showed.

Over 299,000 cases resulting in 1,294 deaths were classified as Class B diseases under China's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.

Viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhoea and bacterial and amoebic dysentery accounted for 94 percent of cases in this category.

Category C diseases were responsible for nearly 232,000 cases and 12 deaths. Foot and mouth disease, infectious diarrhea and influenza were the most prevalent in this category, accounting for 94 percent of the cases.

The packages, the first in Beijing, cover 30 symptoms such as insomnia and headaches. Fifteen hospitals are listed.

The administration said the packages feature effective treatment and whole-process services at a reasonable cost, and offer tourist programs for patients during their stay in Beijing.

Beijing is rich in TCM resources, with 14 third-level (top level) and 20 second-level TCM hospitals, as well as a large number of time-honored TCM clinics and masters.

According to a document issued by the National Tourism Administration and the State Administration of TCM in July 2016, China will establish 10 national TCM tourism demonstration areas, 100 TCM tourism demonstration bases and 1,000 TCM tourism demonstration projects in about three years.

China is in the grip of a national tobacco epidemic, and children are most susceptible with cigarettes portrayed as fashionable and alluring in popular culture, said Bernhard Schwartlander, WHO Representative in China at the launch event.

According to WHO, over half of Chinese adult men smoke, two thirds of whom started as young adults. By 2014, 72.9 percent Chinese students had been exposed to secondhand smoke.

"There is nothing cool about smoking, but there is something empowering about choosing to live a healthy, smoke-free life," said Schwartlander.

Since China ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005, the country has made a number of tobacco control efforts, including banning tobacco advertisements, increasing tobacco taxes and putting forward regional smoking bans.

As of 2016, 18 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, had implemented regional smoking bans.

China has set a target to reduce the smoking rate among people aged 15 and older to 20 percent by 2030 from the current 27.7 percent, according to the "Healthy China 2030" blueprint issued by the central authorities last October.

The donation worth 750,000 U.S. dollars was handed over to the ministry of health by the Chinese embassy in South Sudan at the capital Juba.

The medicine included tablets and injection doses for adults and children, as well as syringes.

He Xiandong, Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan, said the donation is part of Beijing's efforts to help South Sudan develop its health sector, adding that the donation is a gesture of true friendship and bilateral cooperation.

The envoy said the medicine would benefit at least 400,000 people across South Sudan.

"Public health is of vital importance to any country especially in South Sudan. That is why China attaches great importance to the cooperation between our two countries in the sector of public health," He said.

Health Minister Riek Gai Kok said the donation came at the right time when malaria cases are expected to rise between July and September.

The minister said China remains an important partner for development and stability. "Our partnership with China on daily basis is growing from strength to strength because China's contribution to our country is felt in the grassroots level," Kok said.

South Sudan's health system remains poor and underdeveloped following decades of civil war and conflicts.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in April that South Sudan recorded steady increase in new malaria cases over the past five years as infections among people over five years increased from 700,000 in 2012 to 1.1 million in 2016 and another 600,000 children under 5 years also got infected.

The WHO said at least 391,000 new malaria infections and 19 deaths have been recorded since the start of 2017 across South Sudan.

Early this year, the two countries agreed to boost cooperation in the health sector by enhancing knowledge sharing, capacity building, and hospital-to-hospital collaboration.

The agreements seek to modernize the health facilities in South Sudan, hospital-to-hospital collaboration and allow Chinese health specialists to set up experimental operations and management units in the nation.

A team of 15 Chinese medical specialists are already working at various hospitals across the war-torn country.

Sexual arousal drugs accounted for 86 percent of all cases handled by prosecutors in Shanghai during a three-year campaign from 2014 to 2016 against bogus medicines, according to the Shanghai People's Procuratorate.

Prosecutors handled a total of about 300 cases related to fake drugs in the three years, involving about 150 criminal suspects.

"The rise of cases involving fake or illegal sexual arousal drugs was eye-catching," said Gong Peihua, deputy chief procurator of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate, at a media briefing.

Li Ping, head of the department of investigatory supervision at the procuratorate, said: "On one hand, a growing number of people may want to try such products. On the other, law enforcement authorities have received quite a few complaints in this field, so we've taken more vigorous enforcement measures."

Prosecutors said the internet and small brick-and-mortar stores that sell sex products are the main channels for distribution of counterfeit drugs that promise to boost sexual performance.

"Some pills use a combination of medicinal powder and ordinary flour, and are quite cheap," Li said. "Long-term use of such drugs may harm people's health."

Li said some people may feel embarrassed to go to drug stores to buy such medicines, so they shop online or sneak in to small shops selling sex products at night.

Prosecutors from Shanghai Jing'an district looked into a case in which three suspects opened an online store and sold male impotence drug counterfeits last year. Police found nearly 20,000 pills in a 10-square-meter storehouse.

One suspect, surnamed Zhao, said each box of pills cost between 3 yuan ($0.40) to 25 yuan when purchased through illegal channels. They are sold at nearly 100 yuan per box. The three men were arrested on suspicion of selling fake medicine.

Sales of illegal weight-reducing medicines and cosmetic injections at beauty salons were also notable. The number of such cases jumped from only one in 2014 to 13 in 2015 and 10 last year, Li said.

When the nine-strong team from Hunan province arrived at the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital in February last year, their aim was to help it become the best in West Africa.

"Such a task is easier said than done," said Teng Chaoyu, leader of the team and dean of the hospital, which is in the western town of Jui.

He said when the team arrived, there was only one local doctor on staff, the institute had a critical shortage of medicine, the dormitory was dirty, and there was a lack of potable water. The team has worked hard to improve conditions, he added.

Qiu Yu, a medic from Hunan Children's Hospital, has treated about 5,000 infants and children over the past year.

One of the children he saved is a 7-year-old boy who was originally admitted to a children's hospital in Sierra Leone with a fever and cramps. A British doctor from Doctors Without Borders had incorrectly diagnosed the boy with viral meningitis, and the treatment provided was ineffective.

However, Qiu found a small wound on the sole of the child's foot and was told by the boy's uncle he had stood on a nail. He was able to correctly diagnose tetanus and provide a detailed treatment plan.

Two weeks later, the boy had recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

The Hunan team have also helped improve the knowledge of local workers at the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital.

There are only two registered anesthetists in Sierra Leone, so all anesthesia work is done by the hospital's nurses.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime," said Zou Zhihong, an anesthetist from Changsha Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, repeating an old maxim.

He has spent much of his time in Sierra Leone teaching about anesthesia and, like all the medics from Hunan, learned English to help train African health professionals.

On May 9, the Chinese team visited a Creole community to offer free checkups and provide health education, treating 314 patients.

The campaign, from May to next April, is being waged by State authorities responsible for health, public security, cybersecurity, customs, drug safety, and industry and commerce, according to a notice from the National Health and Family Planning Commission over the weekend.

According to a plan for the campaign, it covers areas like the production and application of drugs and appliances, and staff training and advertising, with a focus on cosmetic injections.

Qi Zuoliang, head of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences' Plastic Surgery Hospital in Beijing, said cosmetic injections are among the most popular of such procedures in China and involve lots of irregularities. The cosmetic surgery market was valued at over 400 billion yuan ($58 billion) in 2015 and was estimated to be increasing by 30 percent annually, Qi said.

"Some who are not qualified enter the sector only for profit, which endangers patients' health and even their lives," he said.

There are tens of thousands of practitioners in China, but fewer than 3,000 are registered with health authorities, according to the Chinese Association of Plastic and Aesthetics.

More than 60 percent of all serious complications from cosmetic injections, including allergic reactions, rashes, headaches and muscle stiffness, were reported at unlicensed facilities, Qi said.

Li Weiwei, director of the plastic surgery department of Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, said she has seen patients go blind after improperly performed injections.

The internet and social media apps make it easy for unqualified facilities like beauty salons to advertise and can make them harder to detect if ads target closed groups, she said.

The plan emphasizes that cosmetic injections fall under the category of medical cosmetology, so must be performed at qualified medical institutions. Also, unlicensed drugs and medical appliances will be removed from businesses, particularly those used for cosmetic injections.

The two major substances used for such injections in China are botulinum toxin, which causes muscles to relax and is better known by the brand name Botox, and hyaluronic acid, which is used as a filler, experts said.

Both can be used to treat wrinkles, but botulinum toxin is classed by the China Food and Drug Administration as a drug while hyaluronic acid is classed as a medical appliance, due to the different ways in which they work.

Unlicensed training and illegal advertising also are targets for the campaign, according to the plan.

Sixteen of the 36 students enrolled at Linfen Red Ribbon School in Shanxi province will take the exam, known as the gaokao, on June 7 and 8.

The school, which opened in 2004, offers 12 years of elementary education to children who were infected with HIV - usually in their mothers' wombs or through breastfeeding. It will be the first time any of its students have taken the exam.

The Shanxi Education Commission gave permission for the independent testing site shortly after the school held a commencement ceremony for its first high school graduates.

"I take that as a goodwill stance by the authorities," said principal Guo Xiaoping. "We have to face the reality that discrimination is still rife against people living with HIV and AIDS."

He said his students are allowed to take the exam at the regular examination site, which is 20 kilometers from the school, but that taking it in a familiar environment would help their performance.

Hu Zetao, 18, who is among the students who will take the exam, appeared in a public service announcement with China's first lady, Peng Liyuan, to fight AIDS discrimination in 2012. In that widely circulated presentation, he showed his face and became familiar to the public. Guo said it made him a public figure in Linfen.

Hu said he and his fellow students were determined to attend universities in other parts of the country.

"Fewer people know us there and we are more likely to have a normal college life," he said.

Chinese law safeguards the privacy of people with HIV and AIDS. Also, HIV is not tested during the routine health check for college entrance.

Guo said tolerance for HIV-positive people is much better at universities where students are adults, compared with primary and middle schools.

"I hope our children can lead a normal life after college," he said. But for Hu, it's much harder, as he became well known during many awareness-raising events.

With the gaokao approaching, "I feel increasingly nervous", Hu conceded.

"I don't know whether any college will accept me, whether the college teachers will treat me like they do others or whether other college students will study beside me and live in the same dormitory with me," Hu said.

But he said he was committed to a lifelong fight against AIDS and related discrimination. Guo said he would help communicate with the universities that students from Linfen Red Ribbon School strive for normal and happy study lives.

After Hu and his classmates leave for colleges following the gaokao, Guo said, "We'll have our next college entrance examination in six to seven years, and I am confident a more tolerant and well-informed society then will welcome the HIV-positive children to sit in the examination side by side with the HIV-free ones," he said.

Without intervention, 30 percent of HIV-positive women will pass on the virus to their children. Currently, roughly 5.7 percent of infected mothers give birth to an HIV-positive baby, government statistics show.

Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO, hands the certificate and team flag to the Chinese international emergency medical team from Guangdong on May 26.

The Chinese international emergency medical team from Guangdong was officially named as an authorized international emergency medical team, the WHO announced at the 70th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 26.

Chinese international emergency medical team (Guangdong) was formerly the national emergency medical team of Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital. 

As such it had carried out health security work including a number of emergency medical rescue missions for large-scale events and international meetings. 

Representing the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), it completed the fourth disaster relief exercises of the ASEAN region in Malaysia in 2015. 

The team is rich in professional skills, self-protection ability and emergency rescue experience. It is equipped with a vehicular mobile hospital and mobile tent hospital.

All its rescue processes have been standardized and institutionalized by the medical team to ensure it can assemble and be ready to fly to a recipient country within six hours. 

The medical team has many innovative inventions to its credit, such as making rescue equipment lighter, smaller and smarter to aid aircraft transport and long distance delivery. 

Tian Junzhang, the group's leader, was honored to learn of his team's authorization by the WHO. 

"Chinese international emergency medical team (Guangdong) will further improve medical rescue systems and emergency response capability to play its role in international emergency medical rescue," he said. 

Tian made a commitment on behalf of all the team members that Chinese international emergency medical team (Guangdong) will always be ready to carry out emergency medical rescue missions under the unified arrangement of the Chinese government and the WHO. 

The international emergency medical team from Shanghai was designated as among the first such teams by Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO, at the 69th World Health Assembly on May 23, 2016.

Citizens from Hradec Králové of the Czech Republic perform traditional Chinese exercise on May 27. The activity, held by the Sino-Czech center, promotes the idea of traditional Chinese health and is warmly welcomed by the locals. [Photo/Xinhua]

Medical volunteers conduct free checks of child patients with cleft lips and palates at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University on June 1. [Photo by Li Yibo/Xinhua]

A foreign medical volunteer checks a girl with cleft lip and palate. Around 80 to 100 patients are selected to receive a free operation. [Photo by Li Yibo/Xinhua]

Dr Bernhard Schwartländer (right), WHO Representative in China, releases the tobacco control poster with Chinese celebrities at the Smoke-free Next Generation campaign on June 1 in Beijing. [Photo by Ju Huanzong/Xinhua] 

Chinese singer Yiyang Qianxi (second from left), a member of TF Boys, receives the title of Tobacco Control Advocate from the WHO on June 1 at the Smoke-free Next Generation campaign. [Photo by Ju Huanzong/Xinhua]

2017 World No Tobacco Day is celebrated in Shanghai.

A grand ceremony was held in shanghai on May 31 to celebrate 2017 World No Tobacco Day.

The day is aimed at encouraging a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption around the globe. 

Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO Representative in China, spoke highly of China’s achievement in curbing smoking, especially the comprehensive ban against smoking in indoors public places in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. 

He said that WHO is willing to promote the anti-smoking campaign with the Chinese government to better protect public health. 

At the ceremony, an investigative report on international tobacco control policies was released. 

Cartoon characters are used to promote tobacco control at home.

The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning also issued a white paper on tobacco control in public places in Shanghai. 

Song Shuli, deputy director-general of the Department of Communications of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, addressed the ceremony. 

Song was one of more than 200 representatives and volunteers from the government, international organizations and media in attendance. 

This year's theme is “Tobacco - a Threat to Development”. Measures will be proposed that governments and the public should take to confront the global tobacco crisis and promote health and development. The day was first observed in 1987. 

A smoking scene from the movie I Am Not Madame Bovary, which won the Dirty Ashtray Award this year. Provided To China Daily

Reductions not nearly enough to shield children, health official says

Smoking scenes have been significantly reduced in Chinese films and TV series in the past decade thanks to increasing awareness by the industry and the public, according to a new survey by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.

Running against the trend was renowned film director Feng Xiaogang, who earned the association's Dirty Ashtray Award for the second year in a row.

Of the top 30 Chinese blockbusters screened last year, the movie I Am Not Madame Bovary, directed by Feng, had the highest number of smoking scenes - 16 - with the longest one lasting 70 seconds, according to Hu Dayi, head of the association.

The film Mr. Six, starring Feng, got the award last year.

It is the ninth year the association has conducted the survey.

"We have seen changes for the better over the years and aim to remind the industry and the public, particularly parents, to protect children from the subtle impacts of smoking scenes," Hu said.

Seventeen of the 30 movies surveyed had smoking scenes, down nearly 35 percent from 2007, according to the association.

The decline in the number of smoking scenes in TV series was even more evident. Half the top 30 most-watched Chinese TV series had smoking scenes, a 45 percent drop from 2007. The average length of the smoking scenes dropped by 90 percent between 2007 and 2016.

Jiang Yuan, a tobacco control official at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "That's far from enough for child protection, as the easy access to such productions over the internet leads to more exposure of young people to smoking scenes."

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to which China is a signatory, recognized the depiction of tobacco in films as a form of tobacco promotion that can strongly influence tobacco use, particularly among young people.

"The industry should be more aware of the fact," Hu urged. "The authorities should strengthen regulations on this as well."

Under regulations issued in 2009 and 2011 by the State Administration of Press, Publications, Radio, Film and Television, smoking scenes are "strictly controlled" rather than banned.

The situation is complex in China, according to Hu, as smoking has long been perceived as a social activity among men, and people often give expensive brand-name cigarettes as gifts.

Moreover, the country has no rating system for films and TV series, which makes it even more challenging to protect children from depictions of smoking.  

The program, which covers financial aid, education and guaranteed employment for participating students, will be open to those who take the college entrance exam, which is scheduled for early June.

Only students from rural areas may apply for the program, and the seven majors they may choose from include the traditional medicine of Chinese ethnic groups, according to the statement.

Those admitted by medical colleges will receive five years of free undergraduate education. After graduation they will be assigned to jobs at local medical institutions in villages and towns of central and western China.

Before receiving their letters of admission, the students will have to sign agreements with their local governments on their education and employment after graduation, the MOE said.

Abraham Morse (third from left) with his colleagues in an operating room at the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center. Provided To China Daily

Guangzhou hospital aims to deliver care with an international vision

Abraham Morse made headlines in local newspapers when he started working as a doctor at Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, as foreign doctors are still a rarity in Chinese public hospitals.

His move to China marked a return to the country where he studied Chinese and interned at a joint venture company in 1986 as a student.

Morse attended medical school as part of a joint program between Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a fellowship in urogynecology at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Before moving to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, he worked at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was attracted by the "innovative and slightly unusual" job posting by the medical center in Guangzhou on an international website, which said it was seeking a new head of urogynaecology. Morse said it stood out because it was not just a search for someone to conduct clinical work like most other postings for positions in Asia.

He started working at the medical center in August and took over as director of the urogynaecology department in January. "As an open and inclusive city, Guangzhou has become an international metropolis. It needs medical care that has an international vision and internationally renowned doctors," said Xia Huimin, president of the medical center.

The center has set standards that are aligned with Western practices, Xia said, adding that it has more than 20 foreign doctors engaged in research, and an ophthalmologist from the United States who spends one week each month seeing patients at the center.

Morse said of the urogynaecology department: "We take care of a broad range of gynecologic issues. I hear about all the patients and we discuss the management of their conditions.

"I sometimes discuss the US approach to problems, such as what medication we might use and when we might consider surgery. It doesn't mean one method is right and one is wrong - all cases are different. It's interesting to compare approaches to help us understand our goals and those of the patients."

One of the big differences is that a lot of technology, such as that used in laboratory testing, advanced imaging and advanced minimally invasive surgery, is relatively new in China, Morse said.

"My experience in the US has enabled me to appreciate the balance between the advantages and disadvantages of some medical approaches. In China, patients and doctors sometimes overestimate the value of advanced technology and surgical intervention," he said.

"There is so much information available that the biggest challenge is to assess what information is important. Experience is crucial. It's also a systematic process of understanding a patient's history, their symptoms and their goals. I always encourage a careful assessment of each patient," he said, adding that too many hospitals in China are overcrowded.

Morse sees about eight patients for clinical assessment a day, many of whom have noncomplex conditions, which points to another difference in the two systems.

In the US, Morse was a specialist in pelvic-floor problems, with most of his patients being referred by another doctor. Such a system, known as primary care in the US, is largely not in place in China, he said.

"Here, patients are pretty much on their own in figuring out what doctor they should see. Almost every doctor is a specialist."

Patients are charged 9 yuan ($1.30) to see Morse at the medical center, compared with about $125 in the US.

Some patients come to see him out of curiosity about a foreign doctor, he said, adding that he communicates with patients through a translator, but his Chinese is improving and he has learned a little Cantonese.

Morse helps to plan surgeries and attends three to five surgeries a week as the primary surgeon or as an assistant teaching another surgeon.

He also mentors and consults with both resident and attending doctors to help them develop their research ideas and edit manuscripts in English.

In addition, Morse helps his colleagues generate knowledge from data, as the medical center focuses on developing electronic medical records and electronic data resources.

He also noted a difference in attitude toward taking medicine.

"In the US, we are accustomed to taking medication over a long time, sometimes for the rest of our lives. In China, many people are reluctant to take medication every day for three months to treat a condition, for example. There are different reasons for that," he said.

In addition, both the patient and a family member are required to sign a consent form for surgery in China, while in the US, only the patient signs the form.

"In the US, we believe the patient should be responsible for making decisions about their health. In China, there is a sense that the family as a whole is jointly responsible for making decisions about a relative's health," he said.

On the other hand, documentation from doctors in the US can be overwhelming, including things not directly related to the care provided, Morse said.

His wife and sons are also living in Guangzhou, "It will be a good experience for my sons to live and go to school in a place that is very different and very unfamiliar to them."

Huang Zehui contributed to this story.

liwenfang@chinadaily.com.cn 

The center is based at three of the country's best children's hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai.

In Beijing, the center is based at the Beijing Children's Hospital under Capital Medical University. In Shanghai, it is based at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University and the Shanghai Children's Medical Center under Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The center will focus on treatment of complicated illnesses and training of pediatricians to meet rising demand. It will also function as a data collection center on major illnesses affecting children in China and an epidemic monitoring and research body.

"One of the urgent priorities is to deepen research on birth defects and improve diagnosis of illness such as congenital heart diseases," said Ni Xin, director of the Beijing Children's Hospital.

Statistics show that by the end 2015, China had 227 million children under the age of 14, accounting for about 16.52 percent of the national population.

The center will help balance medical resources by raising standards of children's hospitals in neighboring cities, Ni said.

A conference on healthcare reform in four provinces and one city was held in Shanghai on May 25. Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission attended the conference and delivered a speech.

The four provinces and one city, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian and Shanghai, were all pilot regions in the nation's healthcare reform. 

The conference featured discussions on the purchases of medical compounds and pilot reform programs on supply of traditional Chinese medicine. 

Wang spoke highly of the five areas' leading role in comprehensive healthcare reform. He hoped that the four provinces and Shanghai will cooperate together to advance construction of unified medical services, develop a community family physician model to meet the public’s needs and set up a new mechanism to deepen public hospitals' reform. 

He also hoped to push forward joint purchases of medical drugs to lower prices, promote the development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry and stimulate health informatization construction based on health big data.

An expert committee was set up at the conference, which was attended by appropriate leaders from the four provinces and Shanghai. Two cooperative agreements among the five regions were also signed. 

The administration－led by the Democratic Progressive Party－should abandon its "Taiwan independence" stance and antagonistic mentality, said An Fengshan, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, during a news conference.

The comment was an answer to a question about an ongoing military drill in Taiwan simulating an attack from the mainland.

"Only by recognizing the common political foundation of the 1992 Consensus can the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations be maintained," he said.

The 1992 Consensus embodies the one-China policy.

When asked to comment on Taiwan's attempt to attend the World Health Assembly, An said: "The authority of the principle of one-China policy is beyond question."

He said the policy has been widely recognized by the international community and is also reflected in United Nations Resolution 2758 and World Health Assembly Resolution 25.1.

The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the WHO. It is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland. This year's assembly opened on Tuesday and will run to May 31.

"As a matter of course, the WHO, the health agency of the UN, has handled Taiwan-related issues according to the principle, and we hope the assembly will not be disturbed," An said.

Newly elected WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom reiterated the organization's adherence to the one-China policy on Wednesday.

Tedros, 52, a former health minister and foreign minister of Ethiopia, will succeed Margaret Chan, whose tenure ends in June.

In a meeting with Li Bin, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Tedros said the UN agency will properly handle Taiwan-related issues based on the resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the World Health Assembly, the WHO's decision-making body.

Tedros noted that it was his first bilateral meeting after being elected and told Li that he will continue to lead the WHO to closer cooperation with China.

Li congratulated Tedros on his election and said China is willing to continue its in-depth cooperation with the organization.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

In a meeting with Li Bin, minister of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, Tedros said the UN agency will properly handle the Taiwan-related issues based on the resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the World Health Assembly, the WHO's decision-making body.

Tedros told the Chinese minister that it was his first bilateral meeting after being elected and he will continue to lead the WHO to further cooperation with China.

Li congratulated Tedros on his election and said China is willing to continue the in-depth cooperation with the organization.

Tedros, 52, a former health minister and foreign minister of Ethiopia, will succeed Margaret Chan, whose tenure ends in June.

At the opening of the 70th session of the World Health Assembly on Monday, Chan said: "The world is better prepared but not nearly well enough."

Chan, who launched a report on her time at the helm of the WHO, lauded the organization's fight against health scourges such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and commended the way it has used its vast technical expertise to adapt to complex and protracted public health issues.

Adhanom was elected on Tuesday at the 70th World Health Assembly in Geneva. He served as Ethiopia's foreign minister from 2012 to 2016, and minister of health from 2005 to 2012. Adhanom will begin his five-year term on July 1.

Noting that Adhanom is the first WHO director general from Africa, Lu said that his rich experience and qualifications made him an appropriate candidate.

China believes that Adhanom will "play an important role in promoting global health" during his term, Lu said.

China will support and work in a cooperative way with the WHO director general, he added.

 

Health ministers from China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa attended a luncheon meeting during the 70th World Health Assembly which began on May 22 in Geneva, Switzerland. The BRICS health ministers exchanged ideas on furthering cooperation in the health sector.

Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) noted that China will hold a BRICS health ministers’ meeting on July 6 and 7 in Tianjin, and will release a Tianjin communiqué and joint declaration on strengthening of traditional medical cooperation among BRICS countries. China will also hold a BRICS high-ranking health officials’ meeting on July 5 to push forward the establishment of a cooperation network.

BRICS health ministers discussed increasing the availability and affordability of pharmaceutical products, advancing global prevention of tuberculosis and strengthening the containment of antimicrobial resistance. They stressed that BRICS’s population accounts for 40 percent of the world’s. BRICS’s health policies are significant for international disease prevention and control.

The first BRICS health ministers’ meeting was held in Beijing in July 2011, from which a long-term dialogue mechanism between the ministers has emerged. Since 2011 meetings have been held six times by turns in the BRICS countries. China holds the rotating presidency of the BRICS mechanism this year.

Some 3,500 delegates from WHO’s 194 Member States including a large proportion of the world’s health ministers are attending the Health Assembly, which ends on 31 May. They are currently debating ways to advance the 2030 agenda, focusing on building better systems for health.

Earlier in the day, the Health Assembly elected Professor Veronica Skvortsova, Minister of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, as its new President.

Over the remaining days delegates will approve the Organization’s program budget for 2018-19 and discuss a wide range of health-related issues. They will make decisions related to WHO’s response to health emergencies, the International Health Regulations, and pandemic influenza preparedness. Important discussions will take place related to polio, antimicrobial resistance, access to medicines and vaccines, the health of refugees and migrants, improving vector control, adolescent health and chemicals management. The Health Assembly will also examine non communicable diseases, including dementia and cancer, and review preparations for a UN General Assembly meeting on NCDs to be held in September 2018.

Member States will elect a new director-general, who will take office for a five-year term on 1 July 2017.

The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of WHO. It is attended by all WHO Member States and focuses on a health agenda prepared by its executive board. The main functions of the World Health Assembly are to determine the policies of WHO, appoint the director-general, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed program budget. The World Health Assembly meets annually in Geneva, Switzerland.

Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), attended G20’s health ministers’ meeting in Berlin from May 19 to 20.

Themed “joint commitment for shaping global health”, the meeting held a desktop exercise to explore ways to further improve the capacity of responding to health emergencies across countries. The meeting also involved discussions on halting the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Li Bin participated in the ministerial level exercise and introduced China’s experiences on responding to MERS and assisting West African countries to fight against Ebola. “China has always supported WHO in better playing its leading role in the global health emergency sector,“ she said. Li shared China’s experiences on joint prevention and control of disease by using different departments, building health emergency teams and disseminating epidemic information. Li said “The G20 nations should be guided by the concept of ‘building a human community with shared destiny’ and improving the coping capacity for global health emergencies.” Her address was regarded highly by the WHO and G20 national leaders.

During the meeting, Li had discussions on health cooperation with ministers from the United States, Canada, Germany and Argentina.

The meeting released the G20 health ministers’ Berlin Declaration.

GENEVA - The head of the Chinese delegation to the 70th World Health Assembly reiterated on Sunday that the one-China principle is a prerequisite for the participation of Taiwan.

The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization and sets policy for the organization. The meeting is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland.

At a news conference before the opening, Li Bin, head of the delegation, brushed off Taiwan's claim of an "epidemic prevention gap", which it used as a pretext for attendance.

In answering Taiwan-related questions, Li, who also heads the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said it is the Taiwan authorities - led by the Democratic Progressive Party - who impeded Taiwan's attendance at the annual assembly. She reaffirmed the cross-Straits 1992 Consensus, which centers on the one-China principle, as the prerequisite for Taiwan's participation.

The DPP, Li said, "refused to recognize that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one China. By so doing, it undermined the political basis of cross-Straits relations and brought the cross-Straits contact and communication mechanism to a standstill".

As a result, she said, the political basis for Taiwan's participation in the annual conference of the global health body has ceased to exist.

According to Li, from 2009 to 2016 the central government made special arrangements for Taiwan to attend the annual assembly as an observer, under the name "Chinese Taipei", in accordance with the 1992 Consensus reached between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Since winning the local election in Taiwan last year, the DPP's stand has made it "impossible to carry out any cross-Straits consultations for the special arrangements anymore", Li said.

The WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations. UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 and World Health Assembly Resolution 25.1 provide the legal basis for the WHO to follow the one-China principle, Li added.

Li also reiterated the stand of the central government on safeguarding Taiwan's public health interests.

"The attitude of the central government in addressing the health issues of interest to Taiwan compatriots is sincere and earnest, and the active measures taken are practical and effective," she said.

Li said proper arrangements have been made for Taiwan to participate in global health affairs and to conduct exchanges on epidemics and other health issues with WHO medical and public health experts.

Through consultations with the WHO, the central government has also made arrangements for the application of International Health Regulations in Taiwan, she said, adding that Taiwan "can access the information on public health emergencies released by the WHO, so the so-called epidemic prevention gap doesn't exist at all".

In addition, Li said, there have been cross-Straits deals and exchanges conducted on the basis of the 1992 Consensus in medical and public health fields, including epidemic prevention and treatment, drug safety management, research and the development of traditional Chinese medicine, among other things.

During a press conference held one day ahead of the WHA opening, it also refuted the existence of an "epidemic prevention gap" claimed by Taiwan.

In answering Taiwan-related questions, Li Bin, head of the Chinese delegation and minister of national health and family planning commission, said that it is the Taiwan authorities led now by the local Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that has set the barrier to Taiwan's WHA attendance. She reaffirmed the cross-Straits "1992 consensus" centered on the one-China principle as the prerequisite for Taiwan's participation.

The DPP "refused to recognize that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one China. By so doing, it undermined the political basis of the cross-Straits relations, and brought the cross-Straits contact and communication mechanism to a standstill," Li said.

As a result, she noted, the political basis of Taiwan's participation in the annual conference of the global health body has ceased to exist.

According to her, from 2009 to 2016, the central government of China made special arrangements for Taiwan to attend the WHA as an observer in the name of "Chinese Taipei" in accordance with the "1992 consensus" reached between Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

However, since it won the local election in Taiwan last year, the DPP's stand has made it "impossible to carry out any cross-Straits consultations for the special arrangements anymore," said Li.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a United Nations specialized agency. UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 provide the legal basis for the WHO to follow the one-China principle, Li noted.

Li also reiterated the stand of China's central government on safeguarding Taiwan's public health interests.

"The attitude of the central government of China in addressing the health issues of interest to Taiwan compatriots is sincere and earnest, and the active measures taken are practical and effective," she said.

Li noted that proper arrangements have been made for Taiwan to participate in global health affairs and to conduct exchanges on epidemics and other health issues with WHO medical and public health experts.

Through consultations with the WHO, the central government of China has also made proper arrangements for the application of the International Health Regulations in Taiwan, she said, adding that Taiwan "can access the information on public health emergencies released by the WHO, so the so-called 'epidemic prevention gap' doesn't exist at all."

In addition, Li said, there have been cross-Straits deals and exchanges conducted on the basis of the "1992 consensus" in medical and public health fields, including epidemics prevention and treatment, drug safety management and research, and traditional Chinese medicine development, with cooperation mechanisms built on emergency medical treatment and responses to public health emergencies, among others.

Regular news conference is held by China Delegation to 70th World Health Assembly on May 21.

In response to questions raised by ItarTass News Agency, Phoenix TV and the Associated Press, Dr Li Bin, Head of the China delegation and Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China, commented on Taiwan-related questions of this year’s World Health Assembly. She said that the participation of Taiwan in the activities of international organizations must be dealt with in accordance with the one-China policy. 

Minister Li Bin responds to Taiwan-related questions of the World Health Assembly.

Taiwan compatriots are our brothers and sisters by bond of blood. The attitude of the central government of China in addressing the health issues of interest to Taiwan compatriots is sincere and earnest, and the active measures taken are practical and effective. 

If the Taiwan authorities under the ruling Democratic Progressive Party truly care about the health and well-being of Taiwan compatriots, they should return to the one-China policy and the 1992 Consensus, which are the only right tracks that can truly benefit the people. 

She also said that the World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 and World Health Assembly Resolution 25.1 provide the legal basis for the WHO to follow the one-China policy. 

It is a matter of course and highly appropriate for the WHO to implement those resolutions. From 2009 to 2016, the central government of China agreed to let Taiwan attend the World Health Assembly as an observer in the name of "Chinese Taipei" for eight consecutive years, which was a special arrangement made on the premise of the one-China principle after consensus had been reached through cross-Straits consultations. After the Democratic Progressive Party came into power in Taiwan, it refused to recognize that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one China. By so doing, it undermined the political basis of the cross-Straits relations, and brought the cross-Straits contact and communication mechanism to a standstill. As a result, the political basis of the Taiwan region's participation in the World Health Assembly has ceased to exist and it is impossible to carry out any further cross-Straits consultations based on the special arrangement. 

In other words, it is the Democratic Progressive Party itself that has set the barrier to the participation of the Taiwan region in the World Health Assembly.Only when the political basis that reflects the one-China principle is reaffirmed can regular cross-Straits contacts be continued and cross-Straits consultations regarding the attendance of the Taiwan region at the World Health Assembly be conducted. 

She pointed out that the central government of China has always attached great importance to the health and well-being of Taiwan compatriots and has taken a lot of measures to promote cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation in the health sector. On the premise of the one-China policy and the 1992 Consensus, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) of the Chinese mainland and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) of the Taiwan region of China have signed agreements such as the Cross-Straits Cooperation Agreement on Health, the Food Safety Agreement, and the Framework Agreement on Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation, which have established multiple platforms for exchanges and cooperation such as prevention and treatment of communicable diseases, drug safety management, drug research and development, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research and development and TCM exchanges. Cooperation mechanisms have also been established, such as those on two-way emergency medical rescue, public health emergencies and traditional medicine. Medical institutions, social groups and young physicians (medical students) across the Taiwan Straits are also exchanging and cooperating with increasing frequency.  

She stressed that on the premise of the one-China principle, China has made proper arrangements for the Taiwan region to participate in global health affairs. Medical and public health experts of the Taiwan region can attend technical activities of the WHO. When necessary, the WHO can also send staff and technical experts to the Taiwan region for study of health and epidemics. Through consultations with the WHO, China has also made proper arrangements for the application of the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) in the Taiwan region. Within the framework of those arrangements, an IHR contact point has been set up in the Taiwan region able to access information on public health emergencies released by the WHO. The so-called epidemic prevention gap simply doesn’t exist.

Regular news conference is held by China Delegation to 70th World Health Assembly on May 21.

In response to questions raised by ItarTass News Agency, Phoenix TV and the Associated Press, Dr Li Bin, Head of the China delegation and Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China, commented on Taiwan-related questions of this year’s World Health Assembly. She said that the participation of Taiwan in the activities of international organizations must be dealt with in accordance with the one-China policy. 

Minister Li Bin responds to Taiwan-related questions of the World Health Assembly.

Taiwan compatriots are our brothers and sisters by bond of blood. The attitude of the central government of China in addressing the health issues of interest to Taiwan compatriots is sincere and earnest, and the active measures taken are practical and effective. 

If the Taiwan authorities under the ruling Democratic Progressive Party truly care about the health and well-being of Taiwan compatriots, they should return to the one-China policy and the 1992 Consensus, which are the only right tracks that can truly benefit the people. 

She also said that the World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 and World Health Assembly Resolution 25.1 provide the legal basis for the WHO to follow the one-China policy. 

It is a matter of course and highly appropriate for the WHO to implement those resolutions. From 2009 to 2016, the central government of China agreed to let Taiwan attend the World Health Assembly as an observer in the name of "Chinese Taipei" for eight consecutive years, which was a special arrangement made on the premise of the one-China principle after consensus had been reached through cross-Straits consultations. After the Democratic Progressive Party came into power in Taiwan, it refused to recognize that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one China. By so doing, it undermined the political basis of the cross-Straits relations, and brought the cross-Straits contact and communication mechanism to a standstill. As a result, the political basis of the Taiwan region's participation in the World Health Assembly has ceased to exist and it is impossible to carry out any further cross-Straits consultations based on the special arrangement. 

In other words, it is the Democratic Progressive Party itself that has set the barrier to the participation of the Taiwan region in the World Health Assembly.Only when the political basis that reflects the one-China principle is reaffirmed can regular cross-Straits contacts be continued and cross-Straits consultations regarding the attendance of the Taiwan region at the World Health Assembly be conducted. 

She pointed out that the central government of China has always attached great importance to the health and well-being of Taiwan compatriots and has taken a lot of measures to promote cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation in the health sector. On the premise of the one-China policy and the 1992 Consensus, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) of the Chinese mainland and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) of the Taiwan region of China have signed agreements such as the Cross-Straits Cooperation Agreement on Health, the Food Safety Agreement, and the Framework Agreement on Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation, which have established multiple platforms for exchanges and cooperation such as prevention and treatment of communicable diseases, drug safety management, drug research and development, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research and development and TCM exchanges. Cooperation mechanisms have also been established, such as those on two-way emergency medical rescue, public health emergencies and traditional medicine. Medical institutions, social groups and young physicians (medical students) across the Taiwan Straits are also exchanging and cooperating with increasing frequency.  

She stressed that on the premise of the one-China principle, China has made proper arrangements for the Taiwan region to participate in global health affairs. Medical and public health experts of the Taiwan region can attend technical activities of the WHO. When necessary, the WHO can also send staff and technical experts to the Taiwan region for study of health and epidemics. Through consultations with the WHO, China has also made proper arrangements for the application of the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) in the Taiwan region. Within the framework of those arrangements, an IHR contact point has been set up in the Taiwan region able to access information on public health emergencies released by the WHO. The so-called epidemic prevention gap simply doesn’t exist.

A medical worker at the local community health service center in Xingtai city, North China's Hebei province, is testing the blood pressure for a community resident on May 19. Hebei is building the family doctor platform to provide efficient, high-quality and cost-effective personalized medical service. [Photo by Zhu Xudong/Xinhua]

A medical worker at the local community health service center in Xingtai city, North China's Hebei province, is making the cupping therapy for a community resident on May 19. Hebei is building a team of nearly 300 family doctors to provide efficient, high-quality and cost-effective personalized medical service. [Photo by Zhu Xudong/Xinhua]

"Our center received its first patient from Russia in 2001, and since then the number of Russian patients has been increasing," said Wang Yan, director of the rehabilitation center of Second Hospital Affiliated with the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine.

"During the peak seasons between April and October they come in groups of 50 or 60, and they sometimes have to make an appointment to be able to see a doctor."

Many patients are children or teenagers with difficult and chronic conditions such as brain-related illnesses or injuries, she said. Doctors provide comprehensive TCM treatment, such as herbal drugs and acupuncture.

"We found many Russian patients have more confidence in TCM than Chinese patients," she said. "We have employed some Russians as translators to facilitate communication."

Iuliia Matreninskaia, 38, from Russia, took her son to the hospital for treatment this month for the fifth time.

She said she first took her 10-year-old son, Daria, who has cerebral palsy, to Wang's hospital in 2012, and her son's brain function has since improved and he is able to move better.

Matreninskaia considers the medical facilities better and costs lower in Heilongjiang than at private hospitals in Russia.

Wang Hailin, president of Mishan Cardiovascular Diseases Hospital in Mishan, Heilongjiang, said many Russian patients seen by the hospital have conditions such as arthritis and varicose veins whose symptoms can be worsened by cold weather.

"TCM has proved to be effective in these diseases," he said. "We plan to work with hospitals in Russia and tourism agencies this year to attract more Russian patients."

Shao Zongbo, a manager at Mishan Qianshou Tourism Agency, said more than 200 Russians have used to agency to arrange for healthcare visits to the province every week this year. Most of them come from Russia's eastern areas, such as Vladivostok and Ussuriysk, he said.

"In the beginning, most of them came here for treatment of diseases, but now many of them also come for other health-related services such as massage," he said.

TCM institutions across China provided 910 million services in 2015, accounting for 15.7 percent of all medical services in China, compared with 14.3 percent in 2009, according to a report released by the State Council Information Office in December. 

The Red Cross Society of China has launched a fund to boost humanitarian activities and cooperation in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang Ping, vice-president of the society, said the Belt and Road Fraternity Fund has raised 70 million yuan ($10.14 million), most of which has been donated by Chinese enterprises.

"The money will fund Red Cross humanitarian projects in Belt and Road countries and help set up a channel for Chinese businesses to perform humanitarian duties," he said.

As the country's largest humanitarian organization, the society is positioned as an important platform for boosting people-to-people exchanges, according to Wang.

The China Red Cross established an emergency care center in Pakistan's Gwadar Port on Sunday alongside its local counterpart, the Pakistan Red Crescent Society. Wang described it as the first project of the Belt and Road Fraternity Fund.

The center will help meet medical demands from along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a regional partnership under the Belt and Road Initiative.

As an international humanitarian organization, the society is important for fundraising and social mobilization, Wang said, adding that it "helps to increase humanitarian resources and boost communication and cooperation at the grassroots level".

Humanitarian threats such as military conflicts, natural disasters and uneven socioeconomic development are common in Belt and Road regions, so "local demand for humanitarian aid is immense", he said.

To better address the demands, the society will further enhance its capacity, particularly in conducting projects overseas in fields such as crisis and disaster relief, and first aid, he said.

In addition, nonemergency assistance, such as community development programs, health promotion, disaster reduction and disease control, are also planned, he added.

In the long run, "the society is committed to ensuring people in those areas are no longer vulnerable to such situations, and helping them realize self-sustainability and development", he said.

As has been proven by many humanitarian crises, "the weak and vulnerable always suffer the most", Wang added.

China had about 35 million registered nurses by the end of last year, accounting for 42 percent of all medics, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The figure represented an increase of 71 percent compared with 2010, and there are currently an average of 2.54 nurses for every 1,000 citizens nationwide, compared with 1.52 in 2010, Guo Yanhong, the commission's deputy director of medical administration, said on Wednesday.

Of the total number of nurses, nearly 700,000 work at grassroots level healthcare facilities and "they play an important role in guarding public health and preventing diseases", Guo said.

She also urged more men to become nurses. The nation has less than 10,000 male nurses, which falls well short of clinical demand.

In another development, to facilitate a hierarchical medical system required by China's ongoing healthcare reform, the commission has been pushing forward a general practitioner system, under which all citizens have access to contract-based family doctors from local community clinics.

The commission's latest statistics show about 27 provinces have joined the initiative.

Wang Ping, vice-president of the society, said on Monday that the fund has raised 70 million yuan ($10.1 million), most of which was donated by Chinese corporations.

"That would help fund Red Cross humanitarian projects in Belt and Road countries and meanwhile set up a special channel for Chinese enterprises to performance humanitarian duties," he said.

As China's largest humanitarian group, the society has positioned itself as a major platform for boosting people-to-people diplomacy, Wang said. 

On Sunday, the society launched a first-aid and healthcare center in Pakistan's Gwadar Port, in partnership with its local counterpart, the Pakistan Red Crescent Society.

With a grant of 10 million yuan from the fund, the center will help meet medical demands along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a regional cooperation project under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang said that the medical project is the first to be supported by the Fraternity Fund, which was established to help advance the initiative.

As an international NGO, the Red Cross in China is flexible and suitable for fundraising and social mobilization internationally, he said.

The society can "better help rally nongovernmental resources and boost communication and cooperation at the individual level and is more likely to be well received by local communities", he added.

Currently, humanitarian threats such as military conflicts, natural disasters, big gaps in socioeconomic development and poor access to infrastructure are not rare in some countries involved in the Belt and Road, so "local demand for humanitarian aid is immense", Wang said.

To better address the needs, the Red Cross Society of China will further enhance its capacity, particularly in conducting projects overseas in fields such as crisis and disaster relief, and first aid, he said.

In addition, nonemergency assistance, like some community development programs, health, disease control and infrastructure construction are planned, Wang said.

Over the long run, he said: "Society is committed to eliminating the vulnerability of people in those problem areas and empowering them for self-sustainability and development."

As proven in many previous cases of humanitarian crisis, "the weak and vulnerable bear the most cost and loss", he said. 

The central government has earmarked more than 1.4 trillion yuan ($205 billion) this year for healthcare, Song Qichao, deputy director of the Ministry of Finance's Social Security Department, said at a joint news conference on Thursday with the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

That accounts for 7.2 percent of government expenditures, he said, up from about 5 percent in 2008. 

"We see healthcare as an important sector that affects people's livelihoods, and we will continue to increase financial support," Song said.

The latest round of changes is a continuation of nationwide healthcare reforms that started in 2009 to eliminate irregularities, particularly in drug distribution and pricing, and to ensure public access to proper and affordable medical services.

The government investment has helped the country achieve universal healthcare by extending health insurance policies to the rural population and urban unemployed, who previously had no coverage at all.

The two new programs are largely subsidized by the government, and people can participate on a voluntary basis, with users paying a reasonable premium.

For instance, the government is allocating 450 yuan for each participant this year, up 30 yuan from 2016, according to Liang Wannian, head of the commission's Medical Reform Department.

The premium paid by the participant varies by region but is less than the government's contribution, he added.

Liang said the government had increased its allocation for each participant for eight consecutive years.

At the same time, he said, the government would strictly curb improper increases of medical costs.

The average annual increase in medical costs at public hospitals, he said, has to be kept under 10 percent. To meet that goal, the commission has been pushing reforms of public hospitals. That includes ending a longtime policy of marking up drug prices, which led to over-prescriptions and unnecessary treatments, and wasted the money of patients and insurance programs.

Last month, Beijing led the way by scraping drug price markups at all public hospitals, and all hospitals nationwide will follow suit by the end of September, ang said. Government funds will support the hospitals, he added. 

Wang Huaqing, chief immunization scientist for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said more than 13 million cases were reported on the Chinese mainland between 2009 and 2015, mostly in children under 5. 

Since 2008, medical institutions have been required to report any instance of the infectious disease to health authorities. A national epidemic-surveillance network found more than 80 percent of the cases were among toddlers younger than 3. 

In addition, the cost of treatment strains family finances. The annual medical cost to treat the virus is estimated at 2 billion yuan ($290 million) in China, Wang said, citing regional studies. 

Given that the peak season starts in spring and runs to the end of summer, he urged parents to seek immunizations for their children. 

China has three domestically developed vaccines against enterovirus 71, widely known as EV 71, which is the dominant strain of the more than 20 viruses that can cause hand, foot and mouth disease. 

Zhao Kai, a vaccine expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said EV 71 has a good protection rate among recipients and was safe. 

In addition, to help protect children of other countries against the disease, China National Biotec Group, one of the three producers of EV 71 vaccine, "is seeking international approval and registration to make the vaccine available in foreign markets", he said. 

Starting in May, the disease has been found at kindergartens and medical institutions nationwide, according to media reports. 

"To avert severe cases and deaths, the health authority has beefed up routine epidemic surveillance and intervention at such sentinel facilities to ensure early detection and treatment," Zhao said. 

According to medical experts, children younger than 3 are at greatest risk. The infection usually starts with a light fever followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet. 

In serious cases, conditions such as myocarditis, lung edema, aseptic meningitis and encephalomyelitis can develop. 

The virus spreads via the digestive and respiratory systems and through close contact. 

Hainan, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hunan and Fujian provinces, as well as Beijing, take the brunt of the disease. 

Zhu Fengcai, deputy director of the Jiangsu Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said there are no targeted treatments to eliminate the virus. 

"The current therapy is mainly alleviating the symptoms," he said. "The best approach is vaccination and prevention." 

The duo illegally bought and sold vaccines, including for Haemophilus influenza Type B and Japanese encephalitis, with total sales of roughly 2 million yuan ($290,200), according to the Zhanggong District People's Court in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province. 

The two, surnamed Liu and Liao, were given prison terms of seven and three years and fined 100,000 yuan and 200,000 yuan respectively. They didn't appeal. 

Liu was a former staff worker at a county-level center for disease control and prevention in the province. The defendant started selling vaccines in 2013 without government authorization. The court did not state where Liu sourced the vaccines. 

Liao was later summoned by Liu to help with the trade, the court said. The two were caught by police between March and May last year. 

Police are still hunting for others implicated in the case. 

The vaccines were sold in eight cities in Jiangxi, including Ji'an, Shangrao, Jiujiang, Yingtan, Pingxiang and Ganzhou, the court said. In Ganzhou alone, 14 counties were found with the vaccines, mostly at township level health institutions. 

According to the drug management law and regulation in China, sales of vaccines have to be licensed and strictly controlled by the authority because of safety concerns. 

Public health experts said the illegal vaccine trade poses a huge public health risk. 

He urged medical staff to further implement the "Healthy China" strategy to deepen public hospital reform, optimize medical insurance payments and push forward a tiered system of medical care service.

"Health departments at all levels should deepen healthcare reform to ensure our people can enjoy more convenient and quality medical service," said the premier. Liu Yandong hoped that medical staff would do their best to boost public health, strengthen disease control, improve family planning, revive traditional Chinese medicine and develop a health industry based on the "Healthy China 2030 Plan".

Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) delivered a working report at the conference, which noted that China's health sector underwent many important events last year. The Chinese government held the National Conference of Health and released “The Healthy China 2030 Plan", issued the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Law and hosted the Global Conference on Health Promotion.

Li said the health and family planning departments at all levels took great efforts to push forward the construction of a "Healthy China" last year. "We smoothly implemented the two-child policy, gradually revitalized traditional Chinese medicine, developed a health industry with fast pace and supported the health sector with professionals and technology," she continued. Li went on to say that in the past year, China closely cooperated with foreign countries regarding the health sector, and healthcare reform achieved significant improvements, with many more people enjoying greater convenience. 

Li also stressed the NHFPC's main tasks in 2017. The top health authorities will further push forward healthcare reform and the construction of a tiered medical care service system; will develop a remote medical cooperative network and increase the coverage of family doctor services; and the NHFPC will fully carry out the reform of public hospitals and eliminate the mechanism that meant drugs were sold at higher prices than at wholesale. It will also streamline the direct reimbursement of hospitalization expenses when a patient accesses medical services in a place other than their resident region.

The NHFPC will further strengthen supervision and form a basic medical and health system as soon as possible in order to reinforce the prevention and control of critical diseases, as well as improve the health emergency response capacity. Finally, Li noted it will fully implement the two-child policy to strengthen the medical service for women giving birth, and implement the TCM Law to promote the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of the NHFPC, hosted the conference. Relevant officials from health and family planning departments at all levels also took part.

Li noted that the areas discussed are pioneers in China's healthcare reform, and have made significant achievements in key sectors of the reform. 

Now, the municipality and four provinces are to set up a joint conference system for healthcare reform that will ensure the five areas can share experiences and learn from each other. The joint conference system will boost the potential for the areas to cooperate in order to push forward large scale healthcare reform and upgrade China's health industry, offering more benefits for common people.

Li urged that the five areas should learn the experiences and necessities behind healthcare reform and take measures according to the local situations, cooperatively strengthening and coordinating development in these areas and making them a demonstration of China's healthcare reform. 

At the conference, representatives from the five areas signed an agreement on establishing a joint conference system for healthcare reform. Also taking part in the conference were officials from the four provinces and one municipality, the NHFPC and relevant professionals.

Wang stressed that diabetes should be prevented and treated at its early stage. However, everyone should take responsibility for their health, living in a healthy way and having the dietary awareness to prevent diabetes in daily life.

The activity in Beijing released an "experts' consensus on China's diabetes prevention and control". Currently, more than 10 health institutes provide blood glucose measurement, complication screening and health consultation for community residents in Beijing.

More than 600 representatives and officials from relevant departments of the NHFPC took part in the activity. 

The first Chinese family development forum was held in Shanghai on May 15. Wang Pei'an attended the forum where he delivered a speech.

"The Chinese government emphasizes family development as a national strategy. The NHFPC has taken many efforts to improve Chinese families' health conditions and well-being, refinefamily functionality and build family culture," he said.

"We should further perfect the family development policy system. Furthermore, we should improve the service system for family development by encouraging the operation of infant and child services and push forward the combination of medical treatment and nursing care," he added.

More than 300 representatives, experts and officials from relevant departments took part in the forum.

Professionals participated in in-depth discussions around Chinese families, healthy aging and other relevant topics at the sub-forum. 

Cui highly appraised Sino-Czech relations, in which health cooperation continues to deepen with further progression of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"China and the Czech Republic have cooperated in clinical medicine, infectious diseases prevention and control, traditional medicine, staff training and rehabilitation, which is the fruit of a strong Sino-Czech friendship," Cui said.

Policar and Prymula praised China's leading role in health cooperation with the Czech Republic and other central and eastern European countries, and were notably delighted to see the two countries' further cooperation in emergency medicine and vaccine research and development.

Li Bin (center right), China's top health official, and Margret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, sign an action plan promoting cooperation between China and the WHO in Beijing on May 13.

An action plan promoting cooperation between China and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the health field along the Belt and Road was signed by Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, and Director-General of the WHO Margret Chan in Beijing on May 13.

According to the plan, the two sides will focus on the comprehensive improvement of public health in China and the countries along the Belt and Road.

Based on bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms, China will conduct pragmatic cooperation with major partners at national, regional and global levels in order to promote the development of public health in the countries involved and build a "Health Silk Road" together with them.  

The action plan comes after the memorandum of understanding between the WHO and China on their joint work to improve people’s health conditions in the Belt and Road countries, which was signed in January at WHO headquarters in Geneva.

Liu welcomed Margaret Chan's presence in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

She appreciated Margaret Chan in her contribution to lead WHO coping with global health challenges, improving people's health condition and pushing the health cooperation of WHO and China ahead.

"The Chinese government is willing to further cooperate with WHO in the health sector of Belt and Road Initiative. We wish that the it will be a healthy initiative in improving Chinese and global people's health condition," Liu said.

Margaret Chan expressed her gratitude to the Chinese government's support for her work.

She said that the Belt and Road Initiative highly coincides with WHO's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"WHO will further cooperate with China to make greater contributions to the development of global health sector," she noted.

Also taking part in the meeting were Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, its vice-minister Cui Li, Dr Bernhard Schwartlander and WHO's representative in China and Ren Minghui, assistant director-general of WHO.

Wang Pei'an, vice-minister of the NHFPC, gave a positive appraisal of the achievements made by combining medical treatment and nursing care.

Noting that "The policy system for the combination has been gradually improved," he urged that the next step for health departments at all levels should be to explore multiple forms for medical treatment and nursing to ensure elderly people can enjoy a full range of care.

Gao Xiaobing, vice-minister of Civil Affairs, said that the combination of medical treatment and nursing care should have a clear orientation and further improve the service quality for elderly nursing. Governments should guarantee that the impoverished elderly are included.

Also taking part in the conference were officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other relevant departments.

In January, at WHO headquarters in Geneva, President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the WHO and China on their joint work.

That was the fruit of a highly successful partnership between the two working on global health, Chan said. China's help included sending 1,200 medical workers to West Africa in 2014 in response to the Ebola crisis, contributing to WHO efforts to distribute medical supplies in Syria and playing a role in the newly created WHO Emergency Medical Teams, which aim at ensuring more flexible and rapid responses to disease outbreaks and disasters, she said. 

The countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative include some WHO member states in which poor public health limits the potential for economic growth, and some in which new growth could strain their ability to prevent and control diseases and provide basic health services, she said.

"Having many of those state leaders here, this weekend in Beijing, is an opportunity for us to put detailed proposals on the table and get member states' support for cooperation."

Chan became WHO director general in 2007 and is due to step down in July, when she will return to Hong Kong to live, she said.

At the forum, she said, the WHO looks forward to working with its member states involved in the Belt and Road corridor to find ways to bring health issues to bear in their economic growth strategies and decision-making, and supporting the expanded delivery of health services and disease prevention and control services.

China has demonstrated strong, sustained political leadership that is essential to helping ensure strong global collaboration on health so emerging health problems can be dealt with, she said.

Globalization and global economic development have produced unprecedented economic gains and facilitated the movement of people and goods across borders, she said, but this has been accompanied by the transmission of diseases and viruses. Pressures have increased on national health systems to prevent and control disease outbreaks, ensure adequate health services for increasingly urbanized populations and ensure access to medicines and treatment for the poor, she said. 

Nurses at No 4 People's Hospital of Langfang, North China's Hebei province, are helping a new nurse learn about handling a newborn baby on May 10, ahead of the International Nurse Day, which falls on May 12. [Photo by Li Xiaoguo/Xinhua]

Nurses at No 4 People's Hospital of Langfang, North China's Hebei province, are being tested on their CPR skills on May 10, ahead of the International Nurse Day, which falls on May 12. [Photo by Li Xiaoguo/Xinhua]

Tan Xianghong (right) , a senior nurse with over twenty years' experience, puts a nurse hat on the head of her daughter Xiao Li, a class of 2017 graduate of School of Nursing from University of South China, on May 10. [Photo by Cao Zhengping/Xinhua]

Xiao Li, a fresh nursing school graduate, takes a selfie of herself and her mother before International Nurse Day, which falls on May 12. [Photo by Cao Zhengping/Xinhua]

Cui said that central and eastern Europe are the key points for the Belt and Road Initiative.

In recent years, China and central and eastern European countries have had close cooperation in the health sector, which has become an important part of their cultural interactions, according to Cui.

The China-CEEC Hospital Cooperation Alliance has been in existence since June 2016, serving as a platform of cooperation and academic exchange for China-CEEC medical staff.

Cui said the NHFPC will further support the alliance's development and she expects that the NHFPC and the alliance will have an innovative cooperation pattern in the future.

Aimed at strengthening the cooperation of China-CEEC medical institutions, the alliance was co-launched by the Chinese Hospital Association and some hospitals from China and central and eastern Europe. 

Guo Yanhong, senior official at NHFPC, released the figure at a press conference ahead of International Nurses Day, which falls on May 12.

Registered nurses make up 42 percent of the country's healthcare professionals, Guo said, adding that China will launch a plan to retain nursing talent and motivate workers.

NHFPC will continue to provide improved nursing services to cope with the aging population and the increasing need for rehabilitation and hospital care, Guo said. 

According to the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO), as many as 360 million people worldwide are suffering from disabling hearing loss, 32 million of whom are children.

Faced with severe shortage of audiology experts and hearing care professionals in China, the Swiss company hopes to improve awareness and enhance the training of clinical practitioners in China.

The institute's training facility hosts the latest in audiological assessment equipment, as well as the latest innovations in educational technology.

The center will also be the training ground for the Swiss International Hearing Academy's professional hearing care course.

"Through this initiative, we create a state-of-the-art practice space for current and future hearing care professionals, and continue to meet customer needs, create a win-win cooperation model for Asia Pacific," vice president of Sonova Asia Pacific Leonard Marshall said.

Co-operations with local and international government and academic institutions open the center facilities to learners in the wider community and international key opinion leaders in the field of Audiology.

WHO said unaddressed hearing loss posed an annual global cost of 750 billion U.S. dollars, highlighting interventions to prevent, identify, and address hearing loss are cost-effective and can bring great benefit to individuals.

Based in Stafa of Switzerland, Sonova is one of the largest providers in the hearing care sector worldwide. 

The program will use the Program-for-Results (PforR) instrument, created in 2012, that links loan disbursements to tangible results on the ground, the World  Bank said in a statement.

"China has made impressive gains in improving overall health outcomes in past decades, but now faces new challenges: an aging population, an increasing burden of chronic diseases, and fast-rising health expenditures," said Ramesh Govindaraj, World Bank Lead Health Specialist and team leader for the program.

Anhui and Fujian provinces, which face similar challenges as the country as a whole, have been pioneering innovative health reforms. The program will be implemented from 2017 to 2021, the World Bank said.

The program aims to improve the quality and efficiency of hospital services by reforming hospital governance and management, controlling the growth of health expenditure, and creating an enabling policy and institutional environment for health reform by strengthening oversight and stewardship, it added.

"We are pleased to support the Chinese government in the 'deep water' phase of its health reform. This PforR is building on our joint study with WHO and the Chinese government on health reform, and will put its recommendations into practice," said Bert Hofman, World Bank Country Director for China. 

According to the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO), as many as 360 million people worldwide are suffering from disabling hearing loss, 32 million of whom are children.

Faced with severe shortage of audiology experts and hearing care professionals in China, the Swiss company hopes to improve awareness and enhance the training of clinical practitioners in China.

The institute's training facility hosts the latest in audiological assessment equipment, as well as the latest innovations in educational technology.

The center will also be the training ground for the Swiss International Hearing Academy's professional hearing care course.

"Through this initiative, we create a state-of-the-art practice space for current and future hearing care professionals, and continue to meet customer needs, create a win-win cooperation model for Asia Pacific," vice president of Sonova Asia Pacific Leonard Marshall said.

Co-operations with local and international government and academic institutions open the center facilities to learners in the wider community and international key opinion leaders in the field of Audiology.

WHO said unaddressed hearing loss posed an annual global cost of 750 billion U.S. dollars, highlighting interventions to prevent, identify, and address hearing loss are cost-effective and can bring great benefit to individuals.

Based in Stafa of Switzerland, Sonova is one of the largest providers in the hearing care sector worldwide. 

The program will use the Program-for-Results (PforR) instrument, created in 2012, that links loan disbursements to tangible results on the ground, the World  Bank said in a statement.

"China has made impressive gains in improving overall health outcomes in past decades, but now faces new challenges: an aging population, an increasing burden of chronic diseases, and fast-rising health expenditures," said Ramesh Govindaraj, World Bank Lead Health Specialist and team leader for the program.

Anhui and Fujian provinces, which face similar challenges as the country as a whole, have been pioneering innovative health reforms. The program will be implemented from 2017 to 2021, the World Bank said.

The program aims to improve the quality and efficiency of hospital services by reforming hospital governance and management, controlling the growth of health expenditure, and creating an enabling policy and institutional environment for health reform by strengthening oversight and stewardship, it added.

"We are pleased to support the Chinese government in the 'deep water' phase of its health reform. This PforR is building on our joint study with WHO and the Chinese government on health reform, and will put its recommendations into practice," said Bert Hofman, World Bank Country Director for China. 

As part of the general healthcare reform, measures introduced on April 8 aimed at ending the markup on drugs prescribed at public hospitals and modifying the prices for registration, consultation and treatments.

The average drug cost for each outpatient visit during the past month has decreased by 9.6 percent compared with March, the Beijing Health and Family Planning Commission said.

For inpatient care, the average drug cost for each hospitalization has fallen by nearly 18 percent, while the entire cost dropped by 4.1 percent compared with March.

Fang Laiying, head of the commission, said the latest measures worked well to provide better and more rational treatment at more affordable prices.

Under a hierarchical medical system, he said, patients with minor diseases visit community clinics. Only the seriously ill go to large hospitals for specialist care.

But with no price difference, patients tend to swarm into already crowded large hospitals, even those suffering from a common cold, experts said. Meanwhile, community clinics are underused, resulting in a waste of medical resources.

After modifying the prices for registration, consultation and treatment in the latest reform, more residents, particularly those suffering chronic diseases, began to visit community clinics, Fang said.

Total outpatient visits in community clinics increased by 3.4 percent during the past month over March, according to official data, while visits at large top-level hospitals dropped by 15 percent.

All 3,600 medical institutions in the city, under the new reform, were required to purchase drugs directly from pharmaceutical manufacturers through an open public bidding platform to further reduce prices, he added.

That has helped the capital save 420 million yuan ($60.8 million) in the past month, according to the latest figures available.

Starting in the 1950s, a system to add an average 15 percent to drug prices was implemented at all public hospitals in China to help subsidize hospital operations.

But that led to hospitals prescribing too many medications, and more expensive ones, which contributed to soaring healthcare costs.

The figure represented an increase of 71 percent compared with 2010, and there are currently an average of 2.54 nurses for every 1,000 citizens nationwide, compared with 1.52 in 2010, Guo Yanhong, the commission's deputy director of medical administration, said on May 10.

Of the total number of nurses, nearly 700,000 work at grassroots level healthcare facilities and "they play an important role in guarding public health and preventing diseases", Guo said.

She also urged more men to become nurses. The nation has less than 10,000 male nurses, which falls well short of clinical demand.

In another development, to facilitate a hierarchical medical system required by China's ongoing healthcare reform, the commission has been pushing forward a general practitioner system, under which all citizens have access to contract-based family doctors from local community clinics.

The commission's latest statistics show about 27 provinces have joined the initiative.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) held a simulation on public health emergencies in Beijing on May 2. 

The National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) held a simulation, or table-top exercise, on public health emergencies in Beijing on May 2.

Li Bin, minister responsible for the NHFPC, attended the activity and delivered a speech.

The exercise simulated that a severe respiratory infectious disease caused by a new type of highly pathogenic virus had broken out and all countries and the international community had to respond to prevent an epidemic.

The drill tried to find solutions to emergency issues that would arise from that situation and to raise national departments' awareness of the relevant response systems in place.

Li said that the drill reflected the international communitys growing concern about global health emergencies.

She said "Through the table-top exercise, we shared experience and improved the capacity to cope."

She urged health departments at all levels to increase their awareness and improve their capacity by learning from experience and the achievements of international health emergency bodies, so as to be able to offer timely medical assistance to foreign countries in need.

Health departments should cooperate with other departments to safeguard health and safety by strengthening the national health emergency response.

Besides the top health authorities, 18 other national departments involved in health emergency response, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce, took part in the activity.

Li spoke highly of the relationship between China and Denmark.

"Health has become one of the most important cooperative fields of the two nations. China and Denmark have achieved advances in medical payment systems, e-health, elderly health, chronic diseases treatment, medical scientific research and food safety," Li said.

She hopes for further cooperation in high level visits, seminars and medical staff training.

Ellemann highly praised China's achievements in the health sector.

"Although China and Denmark are different in national conditions, the two nations face similar health sector challenges and have broad prospects in health cooperation," she noted.

The two sides also exchanged ideas on healthcare reform, mental health, chronic disease prevention and control, and drug policy.

After the meeting, the China National Health Development Research Center signed a memorandum of understanding with the Danish health data administration.

Li and Vector exchanged ideas on Sino-US medical science and technology cooperation and appropriate organization of an academician system.

Li said that the Sino-US relationship is one of the most important bilateral ties in the world. The two countries have a long history of cooperationin health policies, infectious diseases prevention and control, medical scientific research and medical education.

The minister noted that the American academy is an important authoritative academic institution with an advanced academician selection system, which could be a model for China.

Vector Dzau introduced the academy's history and recent work. He said it is willing to support and assist the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences to set up an academician system.

In addition to academician system construction, the two sides reached consensus on strengthening cooperation in hospital management, payment improvement, medical services and establishment of research hospitals.

In Norway, Cuimet with the Norwegian minister ofhealth and nursingto exchange ideas on health systems, primary health care, hospital management and health emergency programs. The two parties signed annual execution plans on health cooperation for the years 2017-2020.

Cui said that Sino-Norwegian health cooperation faces new challenges and she expects the two sides to have relevant pragmatic exchanges at all levels to serve the people of both countries.

Cui also travelled to the United States, where she met with the China Medical Board and attended a Global Health Roundtable co-organized by the Harvard School of Public Health and Massachusetts General Hospital, exchanging ideas on global health professionals' training.

From April 3 to 4, Cui attended the 50th session of the UN Commission on Population and Development at the United Nations headquarters in New York, delivering a speech.

She noted that China has always considered its population and development as factors in comprehensive decision-making.

China adjusted its family planning policy at an appropriate time and formulated the national population development plan (2016-2030), which aims at further optimizing the population structure, improving population quality and pushing forward sustainable public development in economic, societal, and environmental areas. 

Li spoke highly of the relationship between China and Denmark.

"Health has become one of the most important cooperative fields of the two nations. China and Denmark have achieved advances in medical payment systems, e-health, elderly health, chronic diseases treatment, medical scientific research and food safety," Li said.

She hopes for further cooperation in high level visits, seminars and medical staff training.

Ellemann highly praised China's achievements in the health sector.

"Although China and Denmark are different in national conditions, the two nations face similar health sector challenges and have broad prospects in health cooperation," she noted.

The two sides also exchanged ideas on healthcare reform, mental health, chronic disease prevention and control, and drug policy.

After the meeting, the China National Health Development Research Center signed a memorandum of understanding with the Danish health data administration.

Mo Wenjuan, a dentist from the Shenzhen Dental Hospital of the Southern Medical University is treating a patient. [Photo/szhfpc.gov.cn]

Peng Bo, laboratory technician of microorganism at the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention is working in the labratory. [Photo/szhfpc.gov.cn]

Shen Tingting and Hao Sikai, operating room nurses of the Shenzhen Children's Hospital, are treating a child. [Photo/szhfpc.gov.cn]

Wang Jianwei, a neurosurgeon of the Yantian district hospital in Shenzhen is working on the x-ray results. [Photo/szhfpc.gov.cn]

Li Bin and Wang Guoqiang issue certificates to the professionals and publicists of the healthy lifestyle promotion.

To promote healthy lifestyles around China, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) launched the second phase of the campaign "China Healthy Lifestyle for All" in Beijing on April 28.

The launching ceremony was co-organized by the NHFPC, the General Administration of Sport of China and four other national departments. Li Bin, minister of the NHFPC and Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister attended the ceremony and delivered speeches.

Wang noted that the campaign is meant to encourage local governments, organizations and social groups to participate in healthy lifestyle promotion and thus contribute to a healthy China.

The campaign was launched in 2007. The first 10-year phase promoted the idea of rational diet and moderate exercise across the country. The second five-year phase will carry out special actions to further promote national health lifestyles.

After the launching ceremony, the top health authorities held a walking competition. More than 1,000 people from the NHFPC and relevant national departments took part. 

Li Bin (second from left), minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, is briefed on the campaign "China Healthy Lifestyle for All".

Representatives from social groups present their proposals for healthy lifestyles. 

Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the NHFPC, visits a patient at Youxi County Hospital in Sanming city, Fujian province.

Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), visited Fujian province's public hospitals from April 22 to 26. 

Wang held conferences with local government officials, medical staff and residents, gaining insight into the progress and achievements of the province's health care reform.

Wang appraised Fujian's health care reform as at a high level.

"Fujian's health care reform leads that of the nation, and provides good experience for other local areas." said Wang.

He stressed that local health departments should learn from Fujian's experience and improve the medical insurance system.       

He also urged further advance of public hospital reform by improving the tiered system of medical care service, boosting the reform of the medicine circulation system and strengthening health informatization construction.

Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the NHFPC, inspects a community-level health service center in Xiamen, Fujian province.

Jin Xiaotao, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said the regulation will be issued soon, as the nation aims to safeguard public security.

Big data for the health industry includes patients' basic information and conditions, disease control and prevention, food safety, lifestyles and even genomes.

"This data concerns public health and national biological security," Jin said. "The new regulation is necessary, especially given that China seeks to develop healthcare data as an asset."

He said an independent management committee will be set up to ensure data security and that the regulation will define the basic rules on ownership, collection and usage.

The move comes after the State Council issued a multidepartment guideline in June to promote and regulate the use of big data in healthcare.

The guideline states that a centralized, uniform big data platform for healthcare is expected to be established by 2020 to standardize data collection, storage, reporting and security management.

"A central goal of the guideline is to improve people's health," said Jin, whose commission was among the departments that produced the document.

The guideline is also expected to play an important role in building a new economic pillar for China involving the application of big data.

Jin said the State-level strategy includes setting up a national healthcare big data center and seven regional centers as well as data research and innovation centers, which will be established with partner institutions from home and abroad.

Data used for analysis by the healthcare industry include people's basic medical condition, general physical condition, disease control and prevention, food safety issues, lifestyle and even genome. 

However, "this big data concerns public health and national biological security", according to Jin Xiaotao, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission. "Regulation is necessary," he said, "especially given that China seeks to develop healthcare data as an asset." 

The regulation, which Jin said will be released soon, will define the basics of how big data related to health and medical care can be collected, managed and used, and who can be involved. 

A management committee independent from government agencies related to the big data industry will be set up to safeguard data security, he said. 

Li Tao, head of the commission's development and research center, said the regulation will help address the safety and privacy concerns surrounding data management. 

Left unregulated, the industry might lead to leakage of individual health information for sale to unscrupulous businesses and affect the victims' daily life negatively, he said. 

For instance, a pregnant woman might receive advertisements from baby product companies after having "her information sold by someone at the hospital where she went". In extreme cases, the leakage of health data, particularly the genome and medical record, might lead to potential discrimination in the job market and insurance applications, he added. 

The planned regulation comes after the State Council issued a multidepartment guideline in June aimed at promoting and regulating the use of big data to improve healthcare. 

By 2020, a centralized, authorized and uniform health and medical care big data platform is expected to be established. It will handle data collection and storage, reporting and security management, according to the guideline. 

"Improving people's health will be central among the goals of such a system," Jin said. 

In addition, Jin stressed that improvements in health would also play a key role in fostering a new economic pillar as a result of big data applications. 

State-level development strategy sets out the establishment of a national big data center for health and seven regional centers as well as data research and innovation centers looking at specific areas, such as cancer, he said. 

These research centers will be set up with partner institutions and companies from home and abroad, Jin said, adding, "We will be open to applications from all over the world." 

Liao Jieyuan, CEO of WeDoctor Group, a major online healthcare provider in China, said the big data development would lay the foundation for medical artificial intelligence and its clinical use, particularly in hard-to-reach rural areas where quality medical resources are harder to access. 

In March, WeDoctor donated 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) to help establish a medical AI research center at Zhejiang University committed to big data mining, analysis and transformation to help with clinical treatment. 

Jin said the center's launch on March 25 shows that medical AI is a leading development in the progress of medical science. 

More than 26 percent of respondents reported being hospitalized in the past year and 22 percent had visited an emergency room due to an asthma attack.

"Widespread misunderstandings of the disease are mainly to be blamed for the low control rates," said Lin Jiangtao, a leading respiratory disease specialist at China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing. Lin also heads the China Asthma Alliance.

More than 3,000 asthma patients were surveyed between October 2015 and May 2016.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways and is characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, which vary in severity and frequency from person to person.

Roughly 30 million people in China have asthma, according to estimates by the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

"The prevalence in China will keep rising alongside economic growth and urbanization. The trend is in line with the international one," Lin said.

Currently, most asthma cases - 15 to 18 percent - are found in developed countries, according to the World Health Organization.

Asthma deaths worldwide are expected to increase in the next decade if urgent action is not taken, and 80 percent of them will occur in low- and lower-middle-income countries, the WHO predicted.

According to Xiang Lin, a senior child asthma specialist at Beijing Children's Hospital, part of Capital Medical University, asthma cannot be cured, but proper treatment and patient education can lead to better management of the condition.

The commission held an event on Tuesday to raise awareness with the ThinkTank Research Center for Health Development, an NGO based in Beijing committed to health promotion, and released tips for asthma prevention and control.

Apart from hereditary factors, major environmental risk factors include smoking, pets, air pollution, and pre-existing allergies and nose infection.

Lin expressed appreciation for the government initiative and urged more efforts by government, medical facilities and patients to improve the management of asthma.

Poor control rates lead to increases in emergency treatment, hospitalizations and sick leaves from school and work, he said.

"That imposes a huge economic burden, as well, for both the sufferer and the government," he said.

According to Lin, the average cost of hospital treatment for asthma is 11,000 yuan ($1,590), while therapy to regulate it for a year costs one-third of that.

Jin noted that provincial health departments should strengthen informatization on health supervision, forwarding national health information construction and the application of healthcare big data.

"Provincial health departments should train professional informatization specialists to better operate health information systems on health supervision," Jin added.

Relevant officials from provincial health departments also took part in the conference.

Ten Chinese universities in Beijing, the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Heilongjiang, and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region have joined the initiative, which many call "progressive" since sex remains an uncomfortable subject and a systematic sex education program is still lacking.

"We can not wait to act, even though it's difficult. Otherwise we put the students' health at risk," said Shen Jie, deputy director of the Chinese Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control, which is leading the initiative.

"More universities are in talks with us to install such machines on campus as an option for students seeking HIV testing, which should be normalized."

She said many students are reluctant to visit HIV testing clinics run by health authorities even though the services are free. Privacy and fear of discrimination largely keep them away.

China's HIV epidemic - particularly among students ages 15 to 24, mostly through unprotected gay sex - has expanded rapidly in the past few years, said Wu Zunyou, head of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention.

Over the weekend, a national headline-making report emerged about 106 university students testing positive for HIV in a single district of Yuelu, Changsha, capital of Hunan province, in recent years, according to local public health institutions. Most were gay men.

More than 2,300 students nationwide ages 15 to 24 were diagnosed with HIV during the first nine months of last four times as of 2010.

Wu urged university authorities to recognize the challenge and increase cooperation with health departments to improve HIV/AIDS control, offering as examples education in safe sex and HIV prevention and making testing more accessible on campuses.

In the vending machine projects, self-test kits are on sale on campuses alongside snacks and beverages, said Liu Peng, who is responsible for the program with the prevention and control association. "There is more privacy this way."

The kit is used to collect a urine sample and costs 30 yuan ($4.35). After sending the sample to a designated lab run by public health authorities, users can check results over the internet. No ID information is required, he added.

"Roughly 100 samples were sent back from our campus in the first few months" after the vending machines were installed, said Zhang Jihong, health center head at Southwest Petroleum University in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

The university joined the initiative in June. The two vending machines selling the kits are placed at the health center and stadium, two places popular with students.

A sophomore surnamed Du said: "I never saw someone buy the kit, but I did see the kit packages in our dormitory toilets. And that somewhat serves as an alert for me that the disease is actually all around and we need self-protection."

Shen Jie said, "The fact that more universities became willing to join us demonstrates an ever increasing public awareness of AIDS controls." 

Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) attended the conference and delivered a speech.

At the conference, Wang praised the improvements on China's health promotion.

"We successfully organized the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion last year, contributing China's experience to the global health promotion industry," said Wang.

He also emphasized that health factors should be considered while making policies to promote the health conditions of the Chinese people. Health departments at all levels should prioritize lifestyle and culture for health, while coordinating health promotion with the development of social economy.

The conference had five parallel meetings. Relevant officials from NHFPC, Ministry of Education, State Administration of Industry and Commerce and other national departments also took part in the conference.

A couple working together at a faraway clinic near the frontier pasture are putting up a poster to promote the free check and treatment of echinococcosis on April 14 in the Tacheng prefecture, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [Photo by Zhang Xi'an/Xinhua]

The couple -- Wang Wending and his wife Zhao Xia -- take a walk to visit a patient at their home on December 31, 2015. Their clinic is located at Awusiqi ranch in Tacheng city bordering Kazakhstan, at an elevation of 2,000 to 3,000 meters. [Photo by Zhang Xi'an/Xinhua]

Doctor Wang and his wife give treatment to a local herdsman at night on April 13. Their clinic provides medical services for local herdsmen, frontier defense police officers and soldiers. [Photo by Zhang Xi'an/Xinhua]

Zhao Xia and her husband are cooking together. The couple came to work in the border clinic on March 2011. They have made great efforts towards getting used to their new working environment. [Photo by Zhang Xi'an/Xinhua]

Doctor Wang is calling his relatives living faraway from Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, while his wife sobs as she misses the family members. [Photo by Zhang Xi'an/Xinhua]

The doctor couple walks on their way to a patient’s home during nightfall. [Photo by Zhang Xi'an/Xinhua]

Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the NHFPC, attended the conference and delivered a speech.

Wang noted that public hospital reform made significant progress last year.

The NHFPC will take steps to advance the reform across China this year, including totally abolishing the medicine price markups system, according to Wang.

Public hospitals shouldn't make profit from drug sales. "The goal of public hospitals reform is to make our people healthier and happier," Wang added.

He said that health departments at all levels should cooperate to overcome difficulties during public hospital reform.

Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, inspects the center for disease control and prevention in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province.

Schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease, is a common cause of death around the world.

The team, led by Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, inspected the Guangling district of Yangzhou city.

Wang spoke highly of the achievements made by Jiangsu province in disease prevention and treatment.

Good experience, interdisciplinary methods and cutting-edge technology help to improve working efficiency and accuracy, according to Wang.

Wang said that schistosomiasis prevention and treatment is important to "safeguard and improve people's livelihoods".

He called for more efforts in the campaign to intensify monitoring and strengthen prevention and treatment capability at a basic level.

The compound is extracted from the roots of thunder god vine, a toxic herb used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries to cure arthritis and autoimmune diseases. In TCM, however, it is used in tiny amounts, mainly to treat severe diseases, because of its potentially dangerous side effects.

A research team led by Zhang Xiaokun, president of Xiamen University's Institute for Biomedical Research, found celastrol can change a cell's metabolism by eliminating inflamed mitochondria, leading to weight loss. Mitochondria are the cell's "energy factory".

"This is a huge step in turning celastrol into a feasible and safe medicine for humans," he said. "Celastrol could be a powerful tool to treat patients suffering from obesity and associated complications, such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and fatty liver."

Celastrol has long been a hot subject in biomedicine. In 2007, Cell, a prestigious science journal, listed celastrol with the discovery of antimalarial drug artemisinin - which won chemist Tu Youyou the Nobel Prize in 2015 - among five natural herbal compounds with the most potential for modern medicine.

An audiologist is conducting a hearing test for a hearing-impaired girl in Nanchang City of Southern China’s Jiangxi province on April 15. A public welfare program has been launched for hearing-impaired children. [Photo by Peng Zhaozhi/Xinhua]

A volunteer is using an artificial cochlea for a hearing-impaired boy. The public welfare program has been launched by the local civil affairs bureau. [Photo by Peng Zhaozhi/Xinhua]

An audiologist is playing an interactive game with hearing-impaired children. The program covers a series of activities, including free hearing tests, rehabilitation training, and psychological counseling. [Photo by Peng Zhaozhi/Xinhua]

Medical volunteers from the No 1 Hospital in the Xingtai economic development zone measure the blood pressure of the local residents in Nanshitun community of North China's Hebei province on April 6. [Photo by Zhu Xudong/Xinhua]

A teacher demonstrates to the children of the No 3 Kindergarten of Dachang in Shijiangzhuang, capital city of North China's Hebei province, how to brush teeth in an appropriate manner on April 7, the World Health Day. [Photo by Wang Xiao/Xinhua]

A medical worker from the local health center in Fucheng county of Shijiangzhuang, capital city of North China's Hebei province, explains depression to primary school students on April 7, the World Health Day. [Photo by Zhu Xudong/Xinhua]

A set of measures was approved during the State Council's executive meeting, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

"The goal for the medical partnerships is to make quality medical care more accessible to the wider public, especially in less-developed areas," Li said. "We've managed to set up nationwide medical insurance coverage and increased medical competence in grassroots medical institutions. The coverage is among the highest in the world. What we mostly need now are medical professionals."

People are demanding more and better healthcare, and the allocation of medical resources is a tough balancing act.

The idea of building partnerships across medical institutions providing different levels of care would help bridge the gap of resources. According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, by 2016 medical partnerships had been set up in 205 cities across China.

"Currently, high quality medical resources are mostly in big cities. These should further trickle down to lower tiers so that wider demand will be met," Li said. "We must encourage joint partnerships of city level hospitals and grassroots institutions, while imposing expense reimbursements."

Wednesday's meeting yielded new measures.

Administrative fragmentation between regions, fiscal expenses, insurance payouts and human resources will be resolved. More diversified forms of medical partnerships will be encouraged, with top-tier hospitals taking on leading roles. The guidelines encourage an internet-based medical information platform to help better diagnose and prescribe treatments for rural patients.

More will be done to allocate high quality medical resources to wider regions. To do this, teams of medical professionals will be sent to less developed areas with enhanced sharing of health and medical services.

China will accelerate building a cascaded medical system and will introduce demand-oriented and contract-based family doctors. The government plans to cover all impoverished regions with such services this year while inviting private healthcare institutions to participate.

The guidelines stress better coordination systems and policies in new medical partnerships, allowing a more balanced allocation of resources across different levels of medical centers. The government will encourage diverse forms of payments and performance at grassroots levels will be included in evaluations of medical practitioners, who often can work at any organization within the partnership.

"The government needs to have well-designed, concrete guidelines to build medical consortia, taking local conditions in different regions into consideration," Li stressed. "Local governments are encouraged to have their own ideas in exploring systematic innovation."

Wang Chen, president of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said strengthening medical partnerships is the best approach available to improve the nation's health system.

He said medical resources remain limited, fragmented and unevenly distributed. Also medical doctors' abilities vary.

"As it's hard and time-consuming to train quality physicians, medical partnerships is the most feasible way to systemize and optimize resources available now," he said.

Backed by pharmaceutical giant MSD, the study tracked more than 5,000 patients and 237 clinical research centers for almost a year. It is thought to be the largest study ever conducted in China on the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.

The findings were published in the first issue of Science China Life Sciences, an academic journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Research and clinical practice overseas has shown that a combination of the drugs metformin and sitagliptin is effective and safe. Other drugs may also be added for a triple effect.

But clinical inertia in China has undermined effective treatment, according to Wang Jianping, who led the study. Wang is director of diabetes care research at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

Many Chinese physicians do not prescribe combination therapies in a timely manner, which leads to patients having excessively high blood glucose levels over a long period, he said. Poor control over time can lead to health problems such as heart disease, as well as damage to the eyes, kidneys or nerves.

Doctors "are reluctant to prescribe combination therapies, largely due to a lack of clinical evidence and treatment consensus" in China, Wang said.

Mu Yiming, a senior diabetes specialist who was part of the study team, said the findings could help bridge the knowledge gap and help develop clinical evidence in China supporting combination drug treatments.

In addition, he said, "We're working closely to integrate the findings into the latest version of the national treatment guideline, which is due very soon".

Xing Xiaoyan, head of endocrinology at China-Japan Friendship Hospital, also stressed the importance of patient education. "It's hard to change behavior, and some patients tend to reject combination drug therapy, citing potential adverse reactions," Xing said.

She said the cost of drugs was a concern for many patients, but the government is helping.

"We've seen the government cover more diabetes treatments under public health insurance," she said.

According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China has about 113 million adults with Type 2 diabetes, roughly 25 percent of the global total.

Experts estimate that more than 493 million Chinese are prediabetic, which means their blood glucose levels are too high but not high enough for a diabetes diagnosis.

Liu praised Xishuangbanna prefecture's improvements in healthcare reform. 

He said that the next step for Yunnan should be to push forward the coordination of medical insurance, medicine and medical care. 

Yunnan provincial government should reform public hospitals by optimizing medical insurance payment system, improving medical services at the community level and supporting the development of the Dai ethnic group's medicines therapeutic approaches.

Relevant officials from the health departments and Xishuangbanna prefectural government accompanied Liu's inspection. 

An estimated 322 million people suffered depressive disorders in 2015, a rise of 18.4 percent in a decade, as people live longer, the United Nations agency said in a report.

Global economic losses exceed $1 trillion a year, it said, referring to lost productivity due to apathy or lack of energy that lead to an inability to function at work or cope with daily life.

"Depression is the single largest contributor to years lived with disability. So it's the top cause of disability in the world today," Dr. Dan Chisholm of WHO's Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse told a news briefing.

Depression is 1.5 times more common among women than men, he said.

A further 250 million people suffer anxiety disorders, including phobias, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive behaviour and post-traumatic stress disorder, the report said.

Some 80 percent of those stricken with mental illness live in low- and middle-income countries.

"That puts paid to the notion of these disorders being diseases of the rich or the affluent, that is not the case. In fact in many countries people who are affected by poverty, unemployment, civil strife and conflict are actually at higher risk of certainly anxiety disorders and also depression," Chisholm said.

Three age groups are particularly vulnerable to depression - youth, pregnant or post-partum women, and the elderly.

"The pressures on today's youth are like no other generation perhaps," Chisholm said.

"Another target group is women who are pregnant or have just given birth. Depression around that period is actually extremely common, around 15 percent of women will suffer not just 'the blues', but a diagnosable case of depression."

Retirees are also susceptible. "When we stop working or we lose our partner we become more frail, more subject to physical diseases and disorders like depression do become more common."

An estimated 800,000 people die from committing suicide each year, a "pretty horrifying figure", Chisholm said. "It is more common in males in higher income countries but more common in females in lower- and middle-income countries."

The WHO is running a campaign to tackle stigma and misconceptions called "Depression: Let's Talk".

"We feel that is a key first step, that if we want to bring mental health, depression and other mental disorders out of the shadows, we need to be able to talk about it," Chisholm said.

Medical partnerships, which promote effective cooperation and coordination between different types of medical institutes, play a very important role in establishing a tiered medical care system, which is key to the success of China's ongoing healthcare reform, Wang Hesheng, deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China's top health authority, said on Friday.

All major public hospitals in China must participate and take a leading role in the development of medical partnerships by the end of this year, according to the guideline, which has been approved by the State Council and will be released soon, he said.

By the end of last year, 205 cities at prefecture level or above in China had piloted medical partnerships, accounting for more than 60 percent of such cities.

These cities have established medical partnerships in various forms, and in many cases a partnership consists of a major public hospital, which leads the partnership, and smaller hospitals and community clinics, he said.

Through the cooperation among members of a partnership, patients with minor or chronic diseases are encouraged to seek diagnosis and treatment at community clinics first, instead of overcrowded big hospitals.

In Xiamen, Fujian province, where pilot partnership programs has been established since 2012, the percentage of patients with diabetes who seek treatment at grassroots medical institutions has risen to 78.1 percent, up from 40.7 percent in 2012, and medical expenditure per treatment has decreased 27.5 percent, he said.

"Through medical partnerships, the relationships between hospitals, medical staff and patients should be changed from a temporary one to a long-term and continuing one," said Liang Wannian, chief for the commission's medical reform department.

Medical partnerships have responsibility to provide comprehensive and continuing services to their patients, including disease prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, he said.

Most of these deaths will occur in China's poorest and most vulnerable communities unless critical steps are taken to reduce the country's dependency on tobacco.

The report, "The Bill China Cannot Afford: Health, Economic and Social Costs of China's Tobacco Epidemic", was issued on Friday. It explores the consequences China's tobacco use on its development.

The rapidly increasing costs associated with tobacco use in China are unsustainable, the report said, citing an estimated total cost in 2014 of $57 billion, more than 10 times what it was in 2000.

The expenses are both direct, such as medical bills from smoking-related diseases, and indirect, such as costs incurred from accidents, like fires, caused by smoking.

The report demonstrates tobacco control saves lives and is a developmental issue as well, Bernhard Schwartlander, WHO China Representative, said at its presentation.

China has constantly worked to curb public smoking in particular, for example by making local laws and regulations that ban smoking in indoor public places and raising the tobacco tax, said Wu Yiqun, deputy director of ThinkTank, an NGO committed to tobacco control.

Additional and more progressive policies are needed, Schwartlander said. Otherwise "the consequences could be devastating, not just for the health of people across the country, but also for China's economy as a whole", he said.

China is the world's largest tobacco producer and consumer - about 44 percent of the world's cigarettes are smoked here - according to the National Helath and Family Planning Commission. More than 1 million people die in China each year from tobacco-related diseases.

The highest smoking rates are among blue-collar workers, and rates are higher in rural than in urban areas, the report said.

Smoking has a greater effect on the poor, said Nicholas Rosellini, UNDP Resident Representative in China.

"It causes impoverishment and entrenches social inequality," he said.

Low-income families can scarcely afford the high medical expenses of treating smoking-related diseases like lung cancer, the report said. It cited a recent Chinese study that found 9.2 percent of the rural Chinese households were driven into poverty by medical bills.

Mo Qing (not his real name), a 30-year-old university teacher in Zunyi, Guizhou province in southwest China, was diagnosed as being clinically depressed 10 years ago, but his life has frequently been subject to bouts of despondency and dejection.

His condition began to stabilize about a year ago, but he occasionally still experiences temporary outbreaks. "Things are getting much better than before," he said. "Nowadays I can sense every impending outbreak from the symptoms, so I adjust my medication accordingly to handle it."

Although Mo can keep his condition under control and thinks he looks no different from his colleagues, he remembers clearly how he felt when a black depression hit him. 

"It is a feeling of endless loss and perplexity. You feel absolutely uncertain about your life, your family, your relationships with others and your future," he said. "You cannot make choices because you believe that whatever decisions you make will result in things getting worse. You feel exhausted, absent-minded, in a melancholy state. You don't know what to do and frequently forget things."

Although he believes he inherited the condition, Mo also suspects that the family environment in which he was raised - during which he was frequently locked in his room by his parents when they went out - contributed to his depression.

"Many patients find it very difficult to seek help from others. I believe it is because, like me, they have very low self-esteem, because they think they are no good, incapable and useless. They firmly believe they will bring trouble to others and they are not worth helping," Mo said.

Patient numbers rise

The number of patients diagnosed with depression in China is estimated to be 30 million, and two-thirds of them are adult women, according to Gao Xiaojun, a spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, who cited a national survey.

However, medical experts say the true figure is likely to be much higher as a result of the low rate of diagnosis.

Earlier this month, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the nation's top health authority, and 21 other ministries and central government departments jointly released a guideline about improving mental health in China.  

The paper called for greater efforts to prevent and lessen the impact of mental illnesses and for improved mental health services at medical institutions and other places, including schools, universities and work places, by 2030.

"Because of the more intense pressure of life in an era of accelerated economic and social transformation, the number of people in China with mental health issues keeps rising year after year, resulting in obvious social problems," the commission said.

At Sunofus, an online forum in China for people with depression, the number of registered members has reached 130,000. Most of them have been diagnosed with depression and are undergoing treatment, according to Mo, who helps to manage the forum.

Most people visit the forum for medical advice, such as seeking the right drugs and how to reduce the side effects of their medication, he said.

"They also communicate and vent their complaints. Here, they find they have met comrades and are not alienated, as they feel they are in society," he added.  

Du Xia, a psychiatrist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of depression at Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, a leading center for the treatment of depression and mental health issues, said the number of people with depression in the capital is rising. Du receives more than 10 patients on average during each half-day shift, twice as many as 10 years ago, and most of them are women.

More than 90 percent of the patients who consult Du already have serious conditions, and some have repeatedly attempted to take their own lives, she said.

According to research conducted in several hospitals in Shanghai, only one in five people with depression is given a correct diagnosis by non-psychiatric specialist, she said.

"It is very difficult to diagnose depression, even for psychiatrists, because patient may display many different symptoms," she added.

In addition to the most-frequent symptoms, such as loss of appetite, sustained low spirits and loss of interest in life in general, depression can also manifest itself via physical illness such as headaches and diarrhea, she said.

"Patients with these symptoms most likely go to see doctors who specialize in internal diseases, which can often lead to an incorrect diagnosis."

The lively personalities and optimism displayed by some patients may also be deceptive. "Some of my patients look very active and outgoing. But they may become very pessimistic during depressive episodes, as if they have become a different person. According to what they have told me, they feel entirely hopeless, helpless, and the whole world becomes gray," she said.

Zhang Juyi, a psychiatrist at Beijing Anding Hospital, said the exact cause of depression is still unknown, but research suggests that it may be inheritable because people who have close relatives with depression are more likely to have the condition.

Other high-risk factors include malfunctions in certain nerve centers and a change in the level of hormones in the body. However, the most noticeable causes are the psychological impacts that result from traumatic incidents such as the death of a spouse, divorce, unemployment and serious physical disease, according to Zhang.

"Depression not only affects mood, it also results in physical conditions such as loss of appetite, sleep disorders, lack of sexual desire and constant symptoms such as headaches and shortness of breath," he added.

"It's possible that patients can be cured without intervention, but the symptoms can worsen if not treated properly, and that can result in serious consequences, such as suicide."

Support services lacking

Du, from the Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, said that while many patients receive psychological counseling, medication is also necessary for those with serious depression.

In addition to a lack of diagnosis and treatment, a shortage of support services mean patients face major dilemmas when they are sent back to their communities or homes to recover. "Patients with depression should not stay in big hospitals for too long," she said.

Instead, patients are encouraged to recover within their communities and at home, where they can have more social interaction. The approach can be successful, but sometimes support services are lacking.

"Many communities don't have any psychiatrists, or they lack nurses trained to deal with mental health issues. It is not feasible for doctors at big hospitals, who are already extremely busy coping with their own patients, to go into communities regularly to take care of patients," Du said.

Xie Bin, a mental health expert at the Shanghai Mental Health Center, said China faces a shortage of psychiatrists, given the large number of people with mental health issues.

Figures released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission show that there were 27,000 qualified psychiatrists in China at the end of 2015.

However, more than 40,000 psychiatrists are needed to meet the basic demand, according to Xie, and as few universities in China provide majors in fields such as clinical psychology there is a marked scarcity of talent.

"In this area, we need to learn more from developed countries to cultivate specialists," he said. "The government also needs to formulate favorable polices to import such talent from overseas."

Tolerance, understanding

According to Du, in addition to the lack of trained professionals, many people have scant knowledge of depression, and show little understanding of their family members, which can result in patients visiting hospitals repeatedly.

"How can a patient recover if he or she returns to their family after treatment, living in the same environment that caused the illness?" she said. "Family members should be more tolerant and understanding and care more about relatives with depression, rather than complaining about them."

Mo, the university teacher who has depression, said patients need strong family support. "Many people develop depression because of the people they are closest to, so all family members should take part in the treatment," he said.

According to Du, women experiencing painful periods, pregnancy or have recently given birth are more likely to suffer from depression, and one possible cause may be a sudden change in the level of hormones in their systems.

"We receive a lot of mothers with depression who have just given birth at the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. Women in such situations require more attention and understanding from their family members," she said. 

The revelation has attracted much attention in China. Meanwhile, it's not rare to see lethargic employees at work or hear news of suicides caused by depression.

In China, it is estimated that about 100 million people suffer from various kinds mental illnesses. Out of those people, 16 million are believed to be severely affected by their conditions.

Meanwhile, another 250 million are believed to need psychological services, with 80 million in serious need of treatment.

However, 72.3% of those with the illnesses are not even aware of their depression, anxiety or other mental problems.

Depression has become a leading cause for suicides in China.

Globally, an estimated 700 million people suffer from mental illnesses, accounting for 8% of all those with medical conditions.

The top three mental issues in the world are depression, anxiety and insomnia.

30% of American are believed to have various psychological problems.

In 2012, 804 million people killed themselves globally, with 23.9% of them from rich countries.

314 million Southeast Asians committed suicide in 2012, leading the region to have the highest suicide rate in the world.

Surveys by Chinese health authorities show that the 100 million people in the country suffering from depression include 10% of the country's total female population and around 8% of the total male population.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Chinese people commit suicide.

A recent study has surveyed young to middle-aged employees at 50 of China's top companies in 30 cities. It showed that 78.9% of those surveyed showed signs of agitation, with 59.4% reporting anxiety and 38.6% haunted by depression.

About a third of primary and middle school students in China are believed to suffer from various forms of mental disorders, while up to a quarter of college students in the country are showing signs of mental illnesses.

Mental diseases account for about 20% of all cases of illnesses in China, but government spending on psychological issues takes up only 2.5% of all public health expenditures.

In developed countries, public spending on mental issues on average accounts for about 5.1% of all health-related expenditures. The proportion is only 0.5% in low-income countries.

During the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Shanghai this year, experts agreed to regard the practice of mental health as the key to city building.

Lu Chunling from the Harvard Medical School said that her research in developing countries has led her to believe that mental issues were related to the development of an entire nation instead of a single person.

Councillor Des Cahill, Mayor of County Cork in Ireland, said that a quarter of Irish adults have mental diseases, which made heart diseases and diabetes even worse. The Irish health department developed programs to give the patients chances to do creative activities, such building things and swimming, to improve their conditions.

Here are some tips on improving mental health:

1. Keep expectations low but try your best.

2. Try to understand others when you are not happy.

3. Try relaxing activities, like listening to music and jogging.

4. Believe that you are stronger than you think you are.

5. Let go of the things beyond your control.

The UN agency released the estimates Thursday ahead of World Health Day.

"These new figures are a wake-up call for all countries to re-think their approaches to mental health and to treat it with the urgency that it deserves," WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in a news release.

With the number of people with depression increasing more than 18 percent from 2005 to 2015, WHO is carrying out a year-long campaign, Depression: Let's Talk, the focus of April 7's World Health Day, with the aim of encouraging more people with depression to get help.

Lack of support for people with mental disorders, coupled with a fear of stigma, prevent many from accessing the treatment they need to live healthy, productive lives.

Depression is an important risk factor for suicide, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year, says the report.

One of the first steps is to address issues around prejudice and discrimination.

"The continuing stigma associated with mental illness was the reason why we decided to name our campaign Depression: let's talk," said Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO. "For someone living with depression, talking to a person they trust is often the first step towards treatment and recovery."

Increased investment is also needed. In many countries, there is no, or very little, support available for people with mental health disorders. Even in high-income countries, nearly 50 percent of people with depression do not get treatment.

On average, just three percent of government health budgets is invested in mental health, varying from less than one percent in low-income countries to five percent in high-income countries, says the report.

Already a major mental health issue which the World Health Organization estimates could kill more than 1 million people every year, clinical depression is on the rise among Chinese citizens. About 200,000 sufferers of the mental health disorder commit suicide each year in China. The number could be higher, as others who commit suicide may not have been diagnosed as suffering from clinical depression.

Between 2011 and 2015, sales of anti-depressant drugs soared to more than 5.6 billion yuan ($810 million) from 2.5 billion yuan. Last year it reached 6 billion yuan.

Statistics suggest that nearly half of the patients visiting psychiatrists suffer from clinical depression. Beijing Anding Hospital, a leading mental health hospital, has seen an annual increase of 20 percent in the number of patients with depression-related problems.

Yet it is reported that only about 10 percent of those who suffer from mental health disorder seek medical treatment.

Civil servants, entrepreneurs, showbiz celebrities, and those working in the media have long been perceived as those most likely to suffer from depression. But recent research shows that the less educated and financially capable are also susceptible to depression.

By the end of 2015, there were about 27,700 qualified psychiatrists in China. But the shortage remains striking because at least 40,000 of them are needed to meet the basic demand.

Society's perception of depression as a stigma also needs to be overcome. Many still refuse to see depression as a "proper" disease and blame patients for "being weak".

The support and understanding of family members and friends would mean a lot to those suffering from clinical depression.

Students from Sri Lanka weigh the ingredients for traditional Chinese medicine in a hospital in Cangzhou, Hebei province, on Tuesday. They also observed cupping, massage and acupuncture at the hospital.[LI GENGSHENG/CHINA NEWS SERVICE]

Vice-minister, member of the Party Leadership Group of the National Health and Family Planning Commission

Zeng is primarily responsible for the works related to policies and regulations, drug administration, health science, technology and education and health care.

Specifically, he’s responsible for the Department of Law and Legislation, the Department of Drug Policy and Essential Medicine, the Department of Health Science, Technology and Education and the Healthcare Bureau. He’s also in charge of the Beijing Hospital, the China-Japan Friendship Hospital and the Development Center for Medical Science and Technology of the NHFPC.

Zeng, an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, was born in October, 1962 in central China's Hunan province, in the city of Loudi . He joined the Communist Party of China in December, 1984.

In July of 1985, Zeng graduated from the Hengyang Medical College with a bachelor’s degree in medicine.

In July of 1990, he won the doctoral degree in medicine from the Sun Yat-sen Medical University.

From 1990 to 1992, Zeng worked as an assistant research fellow and attending physician at the Geriatric Institute of the Guangdong General Hospital.

From July of 1992 to January of 1995 he went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology and the University of Tokyo's Institute of Medical Science, where he finished his post-doctoral study as a visiting scholar.

Since 1995, he worked for over two years as a research assistant at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

In March of 1997, he came back to China and worked as vice-director of the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and director of the Tumor Research Institute. In October of the same year, Zeng got promoted to director of the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and president of the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Hospital.

Since August of 2010, he became vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College.

Since April 2011, Zeng has been working in the Expert Consultation Committee of the State Council Health Reform Leading Group.

In August 2011, he began service as president of the Peking Union Medical College and vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

In November 2015, he was appointed as president of the Beijing Hospital.

Since February 2017, Zeng has become vice-minister, member of the Party Leadership Group of the NHFPC, and vice-director of the Central Health Care Council.

Public hospitals' loss of revenue will be offset for the most part by an increase in the prices of patient services, and more government investment is expected, a National Development and Reform Commission statement said.

The markups, a key source of income for public hospitals, are a major but thorny issue in healthcare reform, which aims for universal coverage of basic healthcare services, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Since the 1950s, public hospitals have been selling drugs at a markup. The maximum is 15 percent. Although the policy helped make up for a lack of adequate government healthcare funding, "gradually it evolved into a way to reap profits, contributing to worsening problems like overprescribing, an excessive use of antibiotics by hospitals, and rising medical expenses", said Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the health and family planning agency.

With the expected drop in revenues from drug sales, authorities will adjust the fees for medical services, the NDRC said on Wednesday.

Charges related to the expertise of medical staff, like those for diagnosis, surgery and rehabilitation, will rise, while those for tests requiring major medical equipment will drop, the commission said.

The commission also is requiring local price regulators to carry out other necessary reforms following the measure, including changing medical insurance payments so rising service fees are covered by insurance reimbursement. Also, attention must be given to meeting the basic healthcare needs of low-income people.

Many public hospitals in China had already abolished drug price markups before Wednesday's announcement.

In Beijing, more than 3,600 medical institutions, including all public ones, had abolished the practice starting Saturday.

The measure is expected to lower the cost of outpatient treatment by about 5 percent, but the cost for inpatient treatment, including surgery, will rise by about 2.5 percent, said Li Sufang, deputy director of the Beijing Commission of Development and Reform.

Drug sales accounted for a third of the income of public hospitals last year, according to the Beijing Commission for Health and Family Planning.

A set of measures was approved during the State Council's executive meeting on Wednesday, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

"The goal for the medical partnerships is to make quality medical care more accessible to the wider public, especially in less-developed areas," Li said. "We've managed to set up nationwide medical insurance coverage and increased medical competence in grassroots medical institutions. The coverage is among the highest in the world. What we mostly need now are medical professionals."

People are demanding more and better healthcare, and the allocation of medical resources is a tough balancing act.

The idea of building partnerships across medical institutions providing different levels of care would help bridge the gap of resources. According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, by 2016 medical partnerships had been set up in 205 cities across China.

"Currently, high quality medical resources are mostly in big cities. These should further trickle down to lower tiers so that wider demand will be met," Li said. "We must encourage joint partnerships of city level hospitals and grassroots institutions, while imposing expense reimbursements."

Wednesday's meeting yielded new measures.

Administrative fragmentation between regions, fiscal expenses, insurance payouts and human resources will be resolved. More diversified forms of medical partnerships will be encouraged, with top-tier hospitals taking on leading roles. The guidelines encourage an internet-based medical information platform to help better diagnose and prescribe treatments for rural patients.

More will be done to allocate high quality medical resources to wider regions. To do this, teams of medical professionals will be sent to less developed areas with enhanced sharing of health and medical services.

China will accelerate building a cascaded medical system and will introduce demand-oriented and contract-based family doctors. The government plans to cover all impoverished regions with such services this year while inviting private healthcare institutions to participate.

The guidelines stress better coordination systems and policies in new medical partnerships, allowing a more balanced allocation of resources across different levels of medical centers. The government will encourage diverse forms of payments and performance at grassroots levels will be included in evaluations of medical practitioners, who often can work at any organization within the partnership.

"The government needs to have well-designed, concrete guidelines to build medical consortia, taking local conditions in different regions into consideration," Li stressed. "Local governments are encouraged to have their own ideas in exploring systematic innovation."

Wang Chen, president of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said strengthening medical partnerships is the best approach available to improve the nation's health system.

He said medical resources remain limited, fragmented and unevenly distributed. Also medical doctors' abilities vary.

"As it's hard and time-consuming to train quality physicians, medical partnerships is the most feasible way to systemize and optimize resources available now," he said.

The reform plan focuses on easing the burden on patients and their families and ensuring the healthy operation of medical institutions by decreasing the cost of medicines and the cost of checkups using medical equipment, and increasing the fees charged for services based on the intelligence and labor of medical workers. 

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning will be responsible for the implementation of the plan. 

As it is a comprehensive scheme, the plan will also be carried out with the coordination of other government institutions including the Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau and the Beijing Food and Drug Administration. 

Wang Mingshan, deputy chief of the Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Bureau in charge of the basic medical insurance system for the city's employees and residents, said his bureau will ensure that the reimbursements for the new medical service fee and the medical treatments covered are properly paid. 

The new medical service fee, which replaces the registration fee and consulting fee, will be between 20 yuan ($2.9) and 50 yuan depending on the level of the medical institution, and the reimbursement amount will be between 19 yuan and 40 yuan, according to Wang. 

He said more than 150 new items, including services relating to nursing, newborn baby treatment and traditional Chinese medical services will also be reimbursed. 

"All of our designated medical institutions will be covered in the new reform initiative, ensuring that all the abovementioned costs are properly reimbursed," Wang added. 

The Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau is also offering assistance to the city's low-income residents, or residents struggling to a living. 

The government-sponsored basic medical insurance system will cover a large portion of these people's medical costs, with the the remaining costs reimbursed by an assistance fund from the civil affairs bureau. 

According to Dong Minghui, deputy chief of the bureau, the portion of reimbursement from the assistance fund will be raised. 

"We have increased the portion from 70 percent to 80 percent to cover the beneficiaries' costs after basic medical insurance reimbursement," Dong said. 

She added that the ceiling of financial assistance for an outpatient has increased from 4,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan a year, while that for an inpatient grew from 40,000 yuan to 60,000 yuan. 

Dong said the financial assistance to patients with critical diseases is even higher, with the proportion rising from 75 percent to 85 percent and the ceiling raised from 80,000 yuan to 120,000 yuan a year. 

With reduction of prices for medicines as a highlight of the medical reform, officials from the city's drug and food administration said supervision on both medicine wholesaling companies and medical institutions will be further strengthened. 

Liang Hong, deputy chief of the administration, said more unannounced checks will be made on the medicines' supply chains to ensure they meet national and local regulations. 

"We will promote a medicine supply chain tracking system to make sure the production and distribution processes are transparent to every patient," Liang said. 

"We will also enhance the monitoring of adverse reactions of medicines, and we have developed a monitoring network covering 4,633 units including medical institutions, medicine producers and distributors," he added. 

More than 3,600 medical institutions are involved in the reform and all of them will abolish the medicine price markups, according to Fang Laiying, head of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning. 

It is estimated that the cost of treatment per outpatient will be reduced by about 5 percent on average thanks to cuts in medicine prices, while there will be an average cost increase of 2.5 percent for inpatient treatment due to the growth of certain service charges, according to Fang. 

Community hospitals and medical institutions will be given the same access to the medicines usually prescribed in higher-level hospitals, so that patients will have more choices, Fang said. 

Marking up medicine prices is a practice that has been adopted by most public hospitals in China since the 1950s. It allows hospitals to sell drugs with markups usually at a rate of 15 percent above the drugs' tag prices. 

Its purpose was to make up for the shortage in healthcare funding from the government, and it became part of doctors' salaries, creating incentive for doctors to over-prescribe. 

In 2015, incomes from checkups, tests and medical treatment materials accounted for about 66 percent of the city's medical services revenue, while the incomes from the intelligence and labor of medical personnel, such as diagnosis, surgery, treatment and nursing, which are closely related to the quality of medical services, only accounted for 34 percent, according to Fang. 

"The core of this new reform is to separate the functions of medical services and drug sales so as to shut down the markup mechanism in public medical institutions in Beijing," Fang said. 

"The separation will cut off the channel for making money through over-prescription and help medical practitioners provide better treatments and other services," Fang said. 

"The reform will effectively motivate the medical staff to pay more attention to the medical service they are providing, and further improve the doctor-patient relationship," said Li Ruifeng, a medical reform expert from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. 

Medical service fee 

Another major change brought about by the reform plan is the cancellation of the registration fee and consulting fee, which will be replaced by a single medical service fee instead. 

It embodies the intelligence and labor value of doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, creating a boost to the provision of better medical services, said Fang. 

Third-level hospitals - the highest-level public hospitals in China - for example, will charge a medical service fee for outpatient services offered by its general practitioners of 50 yuan ($7.26) per instance, for associate chief physicians 60 yuan, for chief physicians 80 yuan, for renowned experts 100 yuan. The registration and consulting fees combined were less than 20 yuan. 

For those patients who need emergency treatment, they should pay 70 yuan per instance, and the medical service fee for an inpatient will be 100 yuan per bed per day. 

"Most of the doctors in our hospital are optimistic about the medical reform, we are expecting higher income in the following days," said a doctor from Beijing's Chaoyang Hospital, who asked to remain anonymous. The hospital is one of the third-level public hospitals in Beijing. 

To ease the burden of the public for the medical service fee, the Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Bureau renewed its medical insurance policies, making the medical service fee reimbursable in the basic medical insurance systems for urban employees as well as urban and rural residents. 

Price changes 

Besides the medical service fee that is correlated with doctors' incomes, the prices for general healthcare services, ranging from beds and nursing, medical imaging examinations such as CT and MRI scans, to traditional Chinese medicine, surgery and other treatments, will also have major changes, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning. 

The general reform principle for those items is to increase the prices for beds, nursing, surgery and traditional Chinese medicine treatment, while reducing the prices for physical examinations using medical equipment. 

For example, the price of common-level nursing for patients confined to a bed will be increased from 7 yuan to 26 yuan, appendectomy surgery from 234 yuan to 560 yuan, and acupuncture from 4 yuan to 26 yuan per session. 

CT scans will drop from 180 yuan to 135 yuan, an MRI scan from 850 yuan to no more than 600 yuan, and a PET/CT scan from 10,000 yuan to 7,000 yuan. 

Fang said the price reform of healthcare services involves 435 items. Medical imaging examinations account for 42.5 percent of the total number, general healthcare services 28.7 percent, traditional Chinese medicine services 22.1 percent, surgery and other physical treatments 6.7 percent. 

He said that part of the costs of most of the 435 items will now be reimbursable, making the costs more affordable for patients. 

Fang said community medical institutions will also be equipped with more drugs for chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, offering more convenience for residents. 

Similar medical care reforms will be promoted to all public medical institutions in China by the end of this year, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China's top health authority. 

Li and Vector exchanged ideas on Sino-US medical science and technology cooperation and appropriate organization of an academician system.

Li said that the Sino-US relationship is one of the most important bilateral ties in the world. The two countries have a long history of cooperationin health policies, infectious diseases prevention and control, medical scientific research and medical education.

The minister noted that the American academy is an important authoritative academic institution with an advanced academician selection system, which could be a model for China.

Vector Dzau introduced the academy's history and recent work. He said it is willing to support and assist the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences to set up an academician system.

In addition to academician system construction, the two sides reached consensus on strengthening cooperation in hospital management, payment improvement, medical services and establishment of research hospitals.

Participants of "Walk& Talk" pose for a picture in Beijing on Friday. The event, co-hosted by World Health Organization and Beijing MTR, a subway operator in the city, hopes to reduce the stigmatization of mental illness, such as depression. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Of the patients, 88.7 percent are under the management of health authorities, and receive public services such as medical care and living subsidies, Wang Bin, deputy chief for disease control and prevention at the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at a news conference on Friday, which coincided with World Health Day.

Previous figures released by the commission showed the number of such registered patients was 4.3 million by the end of 2014, with 73.2 percent managed by health authorities.

China has been improving mental health services, with the number of institutions that offer such services reaching nearly 3,000 by the end of 2015, compared with 1,650 in 2010, Wang said.

Last year, the number of certified psychiatrists in China exceeded 27,700, and the number of psychotherapists in China exceeded 5,000, she added.

Patients with serious mental disorders have been receiving improved services throughout China with multi-departmental cooperation such as regular follow-up diagnosis and treatment.

In places such as Beijing and Shanghai they also enjoy favorable insurance policies, which provide free medication and more reimbursement for medical bills, according to her.

In Beijing, guardians are eligible for a 2,400 yuan ($370) annual subsidy from the municipal government if they deliver proper care, according to the city's health and family planning commission.

China faces challenges in improving mental health, due to rising incidences of mental disorders caused by depression, tension, alcohol and dementia, she said.

A survey conducted by professionals from more than 40 psychiatric hospitals and universities in China between 2012 and 2014 found nearly 3.6 percent of Chinese suffer depression-related mental disorders.

Although the rate is lower than countries such as the United States, Australia and South Africa, it saw an increase compared with previous surveys, which may be attributed to increasing psychological pressure on the public due to rapid economic and social development, she said.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 54 million people in China suffer from depression, and is estimated to cost the nation $7.8 billion every year from lost work days, medical expenses and funeral expenses, it said in a statement on Friday.

According to Yu Xin, a professor in psychiatry at Peking University Sixth Hospital, said a major obstacle to prevention and treatment in China is the lack of importance paid to the issue by the public and patients.

"This means only a small portion of people with mental diseases are actually diagnosed and treated," Yu said.

Lack of facilities and talent at community-level medical institutions are also major obstacles, he added.

"In many other countries, patients with mental disorders first seek treatment at community health centers or their family doctors," he said. "But in China, most patients go to big comprehensive hospitals first, as other institutes may lack qualified psychiatrists."

Wang said health authorities will improve capabilities of grassroots hospitals to offer mental health services, such as encouraging top public hospitals to provide training to medical staff.

An aerial photo shows the exterior scene of Angdong Hospital at Angdong village of Baojing county, Hunan province, March 31, 2017. This new rural hospital building, which opened in 2014, was well-known for its unique design. It was recognised with the International Emerging Architect prize by Britain's highest honor for architecture, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in 2016.[Photo/Xinhua]

Villagers practise taichi at the public area built on the roof in Angdong Hospital.[Photo/Xinhua]

Villager Peng Xiuyi receives rehabilitation training in Angdong Hospital, on April 1, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]

Vice-director Peng Yunhua helps a patient move through the barrier-free access in Angdong Hospital, on March 31, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]

The theme of this year's World Health Day was designated as "Depression:Let's talk" by the World Health Organization.

Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission delivers a speech at the promotion activity of 2017 World Health Day.

Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of the NHFPC and Dr Bernhard Schwartlaender, WHO's representative in China, attended the activity and delivered speeches.

Wang noted that mental health is an important part of overall health. Top relevant authorities and 21 national departments jointly released a document on strengthening mental health services in 2016, which put forward specific measures to raise public awareness of mental health and provide more services regarding it.

Wang said that health departments should push forward mental health services aimed at all types of people, set up service systems and train professional staff to raise people's awareness about mental health.

Bernhard Schwartlaender, the WHO representative in China, delivers a speech.

Bernhard Schwartlaender said that the number of people who has depression is climbing worldwide, but the condition does not symbolize weakness, since anybody may experience it.

"Everybody should lend a hand to the people who has depression," he added.

The activity released core information about depression. It is a common mental disorder, which can be healed, but sufferers may easily relapse. People who are depressed must be under a doctor's care.

What's more, making more friends, having a regular schedule with exercise and enjoying a healthy diet can effectively reduce the risk.

World Health Day, celebrated on 7 April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO, provides people with an opportunity to mobilize action around a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world.

Residents inquire about medicine prices at a community hospital in Donghuashi, Beijing, on April 8. Medicine prices are going down for patients of public hospitals in Beijing, but the cost to see a doctor is going up.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Patients in Beijing will spend less on drugs but pay more to see doctors, with the total expense expected to be about the same after the city government on Saturday stopped public hospitals from profiting from medicine sales.

The reform, announced last month, replaced a registration fee and a treatment fee with a higher medical service charge. Meanwhile, it scrapped the previous markup on drugs, which could be as high as 15 percent, in the old pricing system.

Beginning Saturday morning, 2,605 Beijing hospitals switched to the new system, as released by the Beijing health authority.

One father, surnamed Zhang, said at Beijing Children's Hospital that he paid 10 yuan ($1.45) to see a doctor, five times the fee he used to pay out of his own pocket. "But it was not a big deal," he said. "We are quite happy that medication will be cheaper."

The landmark reform removed drug sales as a major source of income for public hospitals. Before the change, public hospitals in China mainly relied on three sources of income－treating patients, selling drugs and applying for government subsidies.

Official calculations show the overall medical costs for Beijing residents will remain flat, said Fang Laiying, head of the Beijing City Health and Family Planning Commission.

"Separating treatment and drug sales will stop over-prescription and help medical practitioners provide better treatment," said Fang.

A website created by the city includes all information related to medicine costs. People can see names of suppliers, what original prices are being offered, where the drugs are produced, how the drugs function, as well as other details that were not accessible before. Public hospitals are required to sell the drugs at the same price they buy them. That website is http://210.73.89.76/.

More than 3,600 medical institutions citywide are making the change, while some 1,000 small village clinics are not yet equipped with computerized billing system, according to Gao Xiaojun, spokesperson with Beijing City Health and Family Planning Commission.

Gao said total costs for buying drugs are estimated to go down by roughly 20 percent.

To offset that loss in profits to the hospitals, the government encouraged an increase in the price for medical service involving an experienced physician, expertise or staff time. Immediate price jumps can be seen in surgeries, acupuncture and nursing.

For instance, to see a chief physician who has three decades of experience in the field, a patient needed to pay 14 yuan for a diagnosis. Now, the cost is 100 yuan, or 60 yuan if the patient has a public medical insurance.

On the other hand, costs involving medical equipment have gone down. For example, positron emission tomography with computerized tomography, a PET/CT scan, used to cost 10,000 yuan. Now it costs 7,000 yuan. The cost for magnetic resonance imaging, or an MRI, went from 850 yuan to 450-600 yuan, the city government says.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Residents inquire about medicine prices at a community hospital in Donghuashi, Beijing, on April 8. Medicine prices are going down for patients of public hospitals in Beijing, but the cost to see a doctor is going up.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Patients in Beijing will spend less on drugs but pay more to see doctors, with the total expense expected to be about the same after the city government on Saturday stopped public hospitals from profiting from medicine sales.

The reform, announced last month, replaced a registration fee and a treatment fee with a higher medical service charge. Meanwhile, it scrapped the previous markup on drugs, which could be as high as 15 percent, in the old pricing system.

Beginning Saturday morning, 2,605 Beijing hospitals switched to the new system, as released by the Beijing health authority.

One father, surnamed Zhang, said at Beijing Children's Hospital that he paid 10 yuan ($1.45) to see a doctor, five times the fee he used to pay out of his own pocket. "But it was not a big deal," he said. "We are quite happy that medication will be cheaper."

The landmark reform removed drug sales as a major source of income for public hospitals. Before the change, public hospitals in China mainly relied on three sources of income－treating patients, selling drugs and applying for government subsidies.

Official calculations show the overall medical costs for Beijing residents will remain flat, said Fang Laiying, head of the Beijing City Health and Family Planning Commission.

"Separating treatment and drug sales will stop over-prescription and help medical practitioners provide better treatment," said Fang.

A website created by the city includes all information related to medicine costs. People can see names of suppliers, what original prices are being offered, where the drugs are produced, how the drugs function, as well as other details that were not accessible before. Public hospitals are required to sell the drugs at the same price they buy them. That website is http://210.73.89.76/.

More than 3,600 medical institutions citywide are making the change, while some 1,000 small village clinics are not yet equipped with computerized billing system, according to Gao Xiaojun, spokesperson with Beijing City Health and Family Planning Commission.

Gao said total costs for buying drugs are estimated to go down by roughly 20 percent.

To offset that loss in profits to the hospitals, the government encouraged an increase in the price for medical service involving an experienced physician, expertise or staff time. Immediate price jumps can be seen in surgeries, acupuncture and nursing.

For instance, to see a chief physician who has three decades of experience in the field, a patient needed to pay 14 yuan for a diagnosis. Now, the cost is 100 yuan, or 60 yuan if the patient has a public medical insurance.

On the other hand, costs involving medical equipment have gone down. For example, positron emission tomography with computerized tomography, a PET/CT scan, used to cost 10,000 yuan. Now it costs 7,000 yuan. The cost for magnetic resonance imaging, or an MRI, went from 850 yuan to 450-600 yuan, the city government says.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

In Norway, Cuimet with the Norwegian minister ofhealth and nursingto exchange ideas on health systems, primary health care, hospital management and health emergency programs. The two parties signed annual execution plans on health cooperation for the years 2017-2020.

Cui said that Sino-Norwegian health cooperation faces new challenges and she expects the two sides to have relevant pragmatic exchanges at all levels to serve the people of both countries.

Cui also travelled to the United States, where she met with the China Medical Board and attended a Global Health Roundtable co-organized by the Harvard School of Public Health and Massachusetts General Hospital, exchanging ideas on global health professionals' training.

From April 3 to 4, Cui attended the 50th session of the UN Commission on Population and Development at the United Nations headquarters in New York, delivering a speech.

She noted that China has always considered its population and development as factors in comprehensive decision-making.

China adjusted its family planning policy at an appropriate time and formulated the national population development plan (2016-2030), which aims at further optimizing the population structure, improving population quality and pushing forward sustainable public development in economic, societal, and environmental areas. 

Baheal Pharm, a Chinese company that focuses on e-health, signed a partnership agreement with IBM in Beijing on March 28 to introduce Watson to medical institutions in China.

Through the deal, over the next three years, the company will become the sole agent on the Chinese mainland for Watson for Oncology, a cognitive computing platform designed to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of some commonly seen cancers, said Fu Gang, chairman of Baheal Pharm.

"We will also promote other products of IBM Watson Health in China, which will be customized to better meet the needs of Chinese," Fu said.

The company, which has connections with more than 120,000 hospitals in China, has selected some top comprehensive hospitals in China for application of Watson, he said.

In the long run, the artificial intelligence platform is expected to benefit hospitals and doctors at grassroots most, he added.

"Unlike doctors at big hospitals in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, doctors at grassroots, in general, have less experience in diagnosis and treatment of cancer," Fu said. "Watson for Oncology may be of great help to them with its vast data resources."

Xu Xiaolin, vice-president of the Chinese Hospital Association, said he hopes promotion of the new technology will be expanded from big hospitals to medical institutions at grassroots, to contribute to the more even distribution of medical resources.

Cancer is a leading cause of death in China, and its incidence has been increasing. In 2015, there were 4.3 million new cancer cases, and more than 2.8 million deaths attributed to the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. 

"The two governments have paid great importance to cooperation in health in recent years," Nie Jiangang, deputy chief of the International Cooperation Department of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at an event on bilateral cooperation.

The event, US-China Patient Day 2017, focused on chronic disease management. It was jointly hosted by the US Embassy in China, Chinese Hospital Association, the US-China Healthcare Cooperation Program and Beijing United Family Hospital.

It was attended by more than 200 representatives from China and the US, including government officials, hospital presidents, doctors, patients and company executives.

"China and the US have been cooperating closely in health policies, clinical medicine, personnel exchanges, public health and other fields in recent years, and yielded effective results," Nie said.

Last year, government departments from both countries signed cooperative agreements to help Africa build its center for disease prevention and control, to help the continent better fight infectious diseases, he said.

In addition to Ebola control and prevention, the two countries have been cooperating in the fight against other infectious diseases, such as AIDS, he said.

The Chinese government also has intensified personnel exchanges with the US in the past several years, and more hospital presidents and medical staff are being sent to the US for training, Nie said.

"We expect to have more intensified health cooperation and exchanges with the US this year to promote the health of the two peoples and contribute to global health," he said.

David Rank, charge d'affaires at the US Embassy in China, said health has been a key part of bilateral cooperation and tangible results have been achieved.

US and China can work together to fight common health challenges facing the two countries, such as increasing health burdens caused by chronic diseases, he said.

Roberta Lipson, CEO of United Family Healthcare, called for the public to have a better knowledge of chronic disease and pay more importance to prevention and consistent lifetime management of diseases.

Beijing United Family Hospital has been applying US medical modes in China since its establishment in 1997 to help more patients with chronic diseases, such as those with cancer, continue to enjoy life and play social roles, she said.

Wang Pei'an, vice-minister of the NHFPC, inspects People's Hospital of Fuping County

Wang praised Hebei's achievements in providing better healthcare for the poor by setting up special funds to improve basic medical insurance treatment levels, raising the reimbursement level of serious illness insurance and upgrading medical assistance levels.

For the impoverished population in rural areas, the actual reimbursement rate for hospitalization has been increased to above 90 percent and that of chronic diseases' medical costs has been increased to above 80 percent.

Hebei's efforts have enabled low-income residents to pay their medical bills, effectively relieving poverty arising from disease.

Wang Pei'an visits poverty-stricken family

Wang urged relevant departments of Hebei province to further improve the medical insurance system by effectively linking up the tiered system of medical care services, upgrading community-level medical services with assistance from tertiary hospitals and telemedicine and standardizing medical institutions in counties andWang also urged the local government to push forward "one-stop" settlements for medical bills and raise poor people's awareness of health promotion methods to provide better healthcare for impoverished people in rural areas. 

According to the document, medical institutions at all levels should formulate and carry out regulations about contagious disease pre-examination and triage, isolation treatment, hospital infection management, and referral.

Hospitals should strengthen testing on AIDS and tuberculosis, taking timely protective measures if it is detected that a patient has a contagious disease or carries a pathogen.

Non-infectious disease designated medical institutions should transfer patients in a timely manner to medical institutions that specialize in infectious diseases to receive treatment.

Medical institutions at all levels should enhance hospital infection management, stopping iatrogenic transmission of infectious diseases. Outpatient departments with a high risk of infectious disease transmission such as fever clinics, diarrhea clinics, emergency departments, and blood transfusion departments should take strict protective measures to keep infectious diseases from spreading in hospitals.

According to the document, medical institutions should set up infectious disease reporting systems and raise awareness about infectious diseases among patients and vulnerable people.

The medical and healthcare reform concerns people's health and social and economic development in China, Premier Li said in the instruction.

Over the past year, all regions and related departments have made significant progress in promoting medical reform, the Premier noted. And he sent sincere regards to those working on the frontlines.

The Premier urged related departments to further deepen the reform of medical care, medical insurance and the pharmaceutical industry, vigorously promote the construction of the medical treatment partnership system and make breakthroughs in reforming the medical insurance payment system in accordance with the requirements of the Report on the Government Work of 2017.

He also urged efforts to build a nationwide information network for basic health insurance so that healthcare costs can be settled directly where incurred, and improve the major disease insurance system to enhance people's wellbeing and sense of gain.

"Related departments should carry out Premier Li's instructions and follow the State Council's arrangements to speed up the establishment of the healthcare system with Chinese characteristics and lay a solid foundation for building ‘Health China 2030'", Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said at the conference.

She also added that future efforts should be focused on benefiting people's health, such as optimizing distribution of medical resources and promoting the scientific management of resources and diagnostic results.

The government should play a leading role and the public should be mobilized to participate, Liu said, stressing that extra attention should be paid to the health of key groups.

In addition, Liu stressed the role of government in supervision and leadership in efficiently pushing forward the implementation of health reform.

The new regulation, which focuses on the writing, storage, use and sealing for safekeeping of medical records, is aimed at protecting the legitimate interest of all parties, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC).

The records contain digitized information -- including words, symbols, graphs, figures and images -- and their proper handling is important for hospital informatization and to safeguard the quality of medical care, according to a Xinhua report.

According to the regulation, electronic medical records of outpatient and emergency services must be kept by medical institutions for at least 15 years. As for those hospitalized, the period must be no less than 30 years.

The launching ceremony of a six-episode documentary on doctor-patient relationships is held on March 18 in Beijing.

The protagonists of the documentary are from departments which are usually under huge working pressure, such as emergency treatment, pediatrics and gynecology.

Six top grade hospitals in China's 3-tier system -- including the West China Hospital and the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital -- were chosen as the settings.

Mao Qunan, director-general of the Department of Communications with the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said the documentary will help promote understanding from the points of view of both the public and doctors.

"I hope more professionals and social organizations will get involved and contribute to harmonious doctor-patient relationships and the building of Healthy China," said Mao.

The documentary focuses on important moments of suffering, life and death of ordinary people in the hospital, according to Deng Haihua, head of Health New.

"We hope it will become a reflection of hospitals in the social reform process," said Deng, noting that "the realities of the medical industry can be portrayed, so that patients and doctors can understand more about each other."

The healthy aging plan will fulfill nine tasks to push forward healthy aging.

The plan will push forward health promotion among the elderly and strengthen public health services for older people. It will improve the medical and healthcare service system for the elderly while strengthening nursing services and the medical insurance system. The plan will boost the development of the elderly health industry and traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), providing diversified healthcare services for old people. What’s more, it will construct an environment suitable for old people and train professionals are also entrusted with these tasks.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China's elderly population at the age of 60 or above will increase by 6.4 million each year; by 2020, it will reach 255 million people, accounting for 17.8 percent of the whole population. With totally disabled and partly disabled old people increasing as well, the need for medical care and nursing services is also increasing. The transformation of family structures will make more and more families face the problem of the absence of caregivers.

According to Hao Xiaoning, the director of development and research center for public health and risk management at the NHFPC, the nine tasks based on the needs of old people's health include providing health care, disease treatment, rehabilitation care, nursing services, and terminal care to build an environment that is good for old people.

Establishment of health service system urgently needed

The plan suggests strengthening the construction of rehabilitation hospitals, nursing homes, and gerontology departments of general hospitals for old people. By 2020, medical institutions will set up green channels convenient for old people's registration for medical treatment. Diversified cooperation between medical institutions and nursing institutes will be encouraged to provide medical and nursing services for the elderly, especially for those who are disabled or have dementia. Areas that have rich resources in public hospitals can transform some hospitals into nursing centers for the elderly.

Hao said further implementation of the combination of medical treatment and nursing services is the key for fulfilling health population for the aging. At the present stage, China's relevant policies and the elderly health evaluation system still need to be perfected.  

Long-term nursing insurance system

According to the plan, China will fully implement serious illness hospitalization insurance for urban and rural residents. Long-term nursing insurance system will be piloted in some local areas, allowing old people's hospitalization expenses to be directly reimbursed in the region where the elderly access medical service other than the resident region. The training of the professional staff for the elderly health services such as gerontology, rehabilitative treatment, and nursing care also will be incorporated into the plan. 

Jin Xiaotao, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission addresses the 49th session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives in Macao from March 20 to 24.

Jin said that the CCFA has become a platform for countries around the globe and international organizations to exchange food safety management ideas, boosting the development of the food additives industry.

"The Chinese government has always paid great attention to food safety, and is willing to cooperate with countries around the world to improve the international standard system of food safety," Jin said.

Chen Haifan, director of the Secretariat for Administration and Justice of the Macao Special Administrative Region, expressed her welcome for the CCFA conference.

Chen stressed that Macao has set up a multi-level food safety supervision system and will further improve related laws and regulations to ensure food safety.

Hosted by the NHFPC, the session invited more than 260 representatives from 50 member countries and the EU as well as 32 international organizations to discuss general standards for the food additives codex. 

China's first lady Peng Liyuan, a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, visited a middle school in Tianjin on March 23 to promote TB prevention and treatment awareness among students. [Photo/jkzg-nhfpc]

China's first lady Peng Liyuan, a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, visited a middle school in Tianjin on March 23 to promote TB prevention and treatment awareness among students. [Photo/jkzg-nhfpc]

China's first lady Peng Liyuan, a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, visited a middle school in Tianjin on March 23 to promote TB prevention and treatment awareness among students. [Photo/jkzg-nhfpc]

China's first lady Peng Liyuan, a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, visited a middle school in Tianjin on March 23 to promote TB prevention and treatment awareness among students. [Photo/jkzg-nhfpc]

China's first lady Peng Liyuan, a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, visited a middle school in Tianjin on March 23 to promote TB prevention and treatment awareness among students. [Photo/jkzg-nhfpc]

China's first lady Peng Liyuan, a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, visited a middle school in Tianjin on March 23 to promote TB prevention and treatment awareness among students. [Photo/jkzg-nhfpc]

China's first lady Peng Liyuan, a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, visited a middle school in Tianjin on March 23 to promote TB prevention and treatment awareness among students. [Photo/jkzg-nhfpc]

By the end of 2016, the TB incidence rate stood at 61 per 100,000 people in China, down 14 percent since 2011, the latest statistics from the commission's disease prevention and control bureau showed. The commission is the nation's top health authority.

The bacterial infection was not evenly distributed across the country. Rural areas in the western regions recorded the highest TB prevalence, according to an e-mail from the commission on the eve of World TB Day.

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region reported the highest TB prevalence, at 184.5 people out of 100,000 in 2015, and the Tibet autonomous region and Guizhou province followed.

The commission has taken in the past several years a number of steps alleviating the TB burden in these areas, including increasing investment for health projects, improving training for local medical staff and encouraging local governments to issue favorable policies for TB patients, such as increasing medical insurance reimbursement for the disease, the commission said.  

Health authorities will continue to support areas with higher reported cases of TB, it said.

China also plans to intensify research in the prevention and control of TB in the next few years, the commission said.

A focus will be on research in preventive and curable vaccines for the disease, it said. Authorities also will encourage research into new therapies and drugs for TB, including chemotherapies and immunotherapies, it said.

On Thursday, China's first lady Peng Liyuan visited a middle school in Tianjin to promote TB prevention and treatment awareness among students.

Peng, a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, attended a class meeting with the theme of fighting TB and visited an exhibition of creative works made by students to promote prevention.

Incidence of tuberculosis in China is expected to be reduced to below 58 for every 100,000 people by 2020, according to a national plan on the control and prevention of TB released by the State Council in February.

According to the document, services for preventing and treating tuberculosis should be further improved by 2020 and those who have the disease should be diagnose dearly and given access to regular treatment.

"China faces many challenges in the prevention and control of tuberculosis, in particular the big number of patients and the number of patients that have developed drug resistance," said Wang Xiexiu, former president of the Chinese Antituberculosis Association.

There are few new drugs for TB, and those commonly used have lost their effect in many patients due to drug resistance, she said. The WHO estimated that in 2015 China had 57,000 cases of multidrug resistant TB. 

The two sides reviewed their countries' achievements in health cooperation. Cui said that health cooperation has become the most important sector for Sino-Czech cooperation.

"The two countries have engaged in pragmatic cooperation regarding hospitals, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), medical staff training, and children's medical care," Cui said.

Policar praised the Chinese government's leading role in its health cooperation with the Czech Republic and other central and eastern European countries. The Czech Republic is willing to further cooperate with China regarding research and development of emergency medicine and vaccines.

Both sides signed a new plan for Sino-Czech health cooperation and exchanged ideas on the Third Health Ministers Meeting between China and the Committee of European Economic Cooperation.

All medical institutions involved in the reform will abolish price markups, usually at a rate of 15 percent, on the drugs they sell to patients, starting on April 8, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning announced on March 22.

The reform covers more than 3,600 medical institutions in Beijing, including all public hospitals, such as those funded by the government, public institutions, State-owned enterprises and the People's Liberation Army, as well as some private medical institutions, Fang Laiying, chief of the commission, said at a news conference.

In addition, all medical institutions will purchase drugs from pharmaceutical manufacturers through open and competitive public bidding, so drug prices will be further reduced, Fang said.

With these measures, the price of drugs sold at these hospitals is expected to be reduced by about 20 percent, said Li Sufang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

Abolishing drug price markups, which has been a key source of income for public hospitals, has been a major, but thorny, task of China's ongoing healthcare reform that is aimed at a universal coverage of basic healthcare services.

The practice has been adopted by most public hospitals in China since the 1950s to make up for a deficiency in healthcare funding from the government, authorities said.

All public hospitals in China will abolish price markups by the end of this year, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China's top health authority, said earlier this month.

Drug price markups result in serious problems such as "encouraging medical institutions to use more drugs and more expensive drugs, which results in a rapid rise of medical costs and increased burdens for both the government's medical insurance fund and patients", Fang said.

Beijing started to pilot abolishing drug price markups in five public hospitals in 2012, he said.

Income from drug sales accounted for about 33 percent of the total income for those hospitals last year, compared with 43 percent in 2012, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission for Health and Family Planning.

To make up for revenue losses in drug sales, hospitals involved in the reform will increase the prices of some of the services they provide, such as surgery and nursing as well as traditional Chinese techniques such as acupuncture, Fang said.

Meanwhile, fees for checkups that involve the use of expensive machinery will be reduced, he said.

It is estimated that the cost of treatment per outpatient will be reduced by about 5 percent, while there will be an increase in price of 2.5 percent for inpatient treatment, said Li from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

Zhu Hengpeng, a researcher in healthcare reform at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said abolishing drug price markups is vital for healthcare reform.

"However, more support policies are needed, such as encouraging competition in the medical industry, and reforming the current payment system for medical insurance for public hospitals to ensure better cost control." 

Lin Shaobin, CPPCC member and vice-president of Fuzhou Second Hospital affiliated with Xiamen University, held the opinion that health managers are professionals who supervise, analyze, and assess people's health condition and keep people away from diseases and bad lifestyles.

"To teach health management is important in upgrading people's health conditions, which can raise people’s awareness of health and change their bad lifestyles as well as control people's diseases at their early stages." Lin advised that medical colleges should set up the major of health management and specify the professional standards of health managers.

Zhang Boli, NPC deputy and academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an easy and inexpensive way to prevent and control chronic diseases. Zhang suggested that TCM's use of acupuncture, manipulation, herbal tea, and herb balms should be listed as treatment options for chronic diseases at community-level medical institutions. 

"Health department should adjust their medicare payment policies and raise the proportion of reimbursement for non-medicine therapy. TCM service should be included in the national preventive medical system and covered under the national medical insurance system, which can reimburse full or half amounts of medical costs of TCM," Zhang said.

Song Wanyong, NPC deputy and president of Zhaotong Chinese Medicine Hospital of Yunnan province proposed to carry out the promotion activity of "International Self-health Care Day" in China, raising the public’s awareness of self-health care and encouraging more medical professionals to support and promote self-health care projects.  

Sun said 1,180 export enterprises in China are now producing products for domestic consumption with the same standards and using the same production line as those for export, covering 5,000 different kinds of products. More products are expected to be included in efforts to improve quality for domestic consumption, he said.

Enterprises that produce goods for export in China have been adopting different standards and production lines so the products meet the requirement of export destinations.

More than 99 percent of food China exported met standards, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision.

Sleep quality for Chinese has consistently improved in the past five years, according to the latest China Sleep Quality Index 2013-2017 report.

The 7,116 respondents from across the country scored an average 74.2 points in the latest survey conducted in February by the National Association of Health Industry and Enterprise Management and Dataway, a market research company. The result is almost 10 points up from 2013, it said.

The trend is compatible with increasing public attention to sleep quality, as cited by the number of related online searches on Baidu, Du Xizhao, head of the association, said at the report launch on Friday.

"Quality sleep is a crucial factor of good health and people should attach great importance t to the issue and try balancing rest and work," he said.

For sleep patterns, the average length of sleep is between 7 and 9 hours, the survey found. And the proportion of those going to bed after 12 am has kept dwindling from 32.5 percent in 2013 to 10 percent now.

Among all capital cities of Chinese provinces and autonomous regions and the municipalities, Xining, Shanghai and Haikou made the top three for residents' sleep quality, the report showed.

Beijing ranked 11th in the list. At the bottom are Urumqi, Guangzhou, and Chengdu.

It also found large cities tend to have poorer sleepers than small and laid-back cities. But this gap has been shrinking over the years, according to Du.

The capability to free sleep from daytime negative emotions has risen to 33 percent, up from the 21 percent in 2015, found the report.

Major sleep problems are difficulty falling asleep and insomnia. Women are slightly more susceptible to insomnia, experts said. Others include excessive dreams, interrupted sleep, sleepiness, snoring and early wake-up.

How does work impact sleep?

The survey found that nearly 31 percent of people get up early for work and that 21 percent reported dreaming about their jobs.

More than 48 percent of public transport commuters doze off on the way to office, it said.

The best sleepers, the survey found, in terms of occupations, are blue-collar workers and those who work in sales, who averaged more than 75 points for sleep quality.

Teachers recorded the poorest sleep, largely due to early hours, many getting up before 7 am. Media workers tend to go to sleep late, at 23:16 pm on average, it showed.

AMR happens when microbes evolve to become resistant to previously effective medicines. Studies show the growth in resistance could be responsible for 10 million deaths a year worldwide by 2050, according to the Review on AMR, a global report commissioned by the British government. 

Antimicrobials are medicines active against a range of infections, such as those caused by bacteria (antibiotics), viruses (antivirals), fungi (antifungals) and parasites (including antimalarials), the report explains. 

Western medicine is struggling to combat the problem, while the overuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobials is worsening the situation, said Cao Hongxin, head of science and technology at the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 

He said the Chinese team, led by Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, will look into how TCM can be used as part of a comprehensive and dynamic approach to halt the progress of AMR. 

"Traditional Chinese remedies are free from drug resistance and could provide alternative solutions," Cao said, adding that TCM works to kill harmful microbes, reduce their replication, as well as to enhance immunity. 

Tu Youyou, the pharmacologist who won the Nobel Prize in 2015, discovered artemisinin, an antimalarial drug derived from sweet wormwood, which has been used in TCM since ancient times. She has worked with China's top TCM research institute for decades. 

Huang Liuyu, director of the People's Liberation Army's Institute for Disease Prevention and Control, praised the efforts to develop more TCM remedies that work on infections. "TCM substitutes can lower the use of antibiotics and thereby delay the development of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms," he said. 

Traditional treatments are more complicated in terms of ingredients and are less likely to develop drug resistance, he said, although he added, "It's usually antibiotics from Western medicine that work stronger and faster in curbing bacteria without drug resistance." 

Huang said AMR occurs naturally over the time through genetic mutations but overuse of antimicrobials speeds up the process. 

Half of the antibiotics used worldwide each year are used in China, with 52 percent of that used to treat livestock, according to the Review on AMR. 

WeDoctor made its name by linking patients with specialists in large public hospitals via an online platform. To date, more than 6,000 doctors have signed up to the service.

Liao Jieyuan, CEO of WeDoctor Group, said the new clinic would offer a package of services such as regular health checkups, medical consultations, chronic disease management, post-surgery care, and hospital referrals.

"The launch of this primary care clinic completes the missing link in the healthcare services we offer and advances a hierarchical care model, as pushed forward by the government," he said at the clinic's inauguration ceremony.

Liao was referring to the government's strategy of promoting primary care providers to ease the strain on large hospitals, which have become overcrowded in recent years with patients who often have only minor ailments.

He Chao, head of the new clinic, said it had the capacity to meet the majority of customers' health demands, while those with serious conditions would be referred to a sitable specialist.

"Such a model helps optimize healthcare resources and brings more convenience to patients," he said.

The clinic also offers tailored health management services such as smoking cessation, exercise and diet advice, as well as corporate health intervention plans, he added.

Hu Xiaoyi, former vice-minister of human resources and social security and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions.

China has an increasingly aging population coupled with surging chronic diseases, and "it's the right time to introduce such a new social insurance program as a pre-emptive approach", said Hu, now head of the China Social Insurance Association.

China has 150 million people aged 65 and older, with at least 40 million of them partially and fully disabled.

To leave such elderly people fully dependent on their children for long-term care is, in Hu's opinion, unrealistic.

"It has become a universal social problem facing all families and thus should be addressed with a package of resources including the individual family, the government and the entire society, or the social insurance," he noted.

Currently, China has five social insurance programs - elderly care, health, unemployment, work injury and maternity. They are run by the government and premiums are paid by the individual and the employer on a compulsory basis.

Hu expected long-term care would be the sixth.

All families, whether or not in urgent need of care, should participate in the program to prepare for potential future challenges, he urged.

According to him, care under the program is more household-based and would sometimes require professional medical intervention.

Recipients should be categorized according to various levels of dependency, he added.

But he stressed that more testing and research are required to roll out the program nationwide.

"The trial run should start with disabled seniors," he said.

Such trials also assist in setting standards and level of premiums, he added.

Hu suggested a family-based approach for premium collection rather than an individual basis.

Countries such as Germany, Japan and South Korea have pioneered setting up such social security programs, according to the World Health Organization.

Sun Jie, another CPPCC member, said the program had proved helpful in addressing the long-term care demands of the old who have disabilities.

Sun, also deputy director of the School of Insurance and Economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, added that some trials under way in China would provide experience for a future scale-up of the program nationwide. 

Wang Guoqiang, head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a member of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress, spoke to China Daily on the sidelines of the body's annual meeting.

"It should be a bottom-up approach, like we've already seen with schools adding TCM courses for students. We are working closely with the education authorities on preparatory work like course design, setting training targets and teaching methods," says Wang, who also serves as deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The initiative would help enhance their health awareness and ability to lead a healthy lifestyle, he says.

It also would "help with the nation's long-term strategy to train more quality TCM talent", he says, adding that the supply of practitioners is falling short of the demand.

Wang Jie, president of Guang'anmen Hospital, which specializes in TCM, says that while the hospital has millions of patient visits a year, "we only have several hundred doctors, and they are very overworked".

The hospital is one of the top TCM institutions in Beijing, Wang said he would be happy to see more young people interested in TCM studies and medical careers.

Wang Guoqiang urged TCM and education experts to work together to come up with an approach that is appealing to students.

He suggested activities like lectures and a chance to experience TCM techniques, such as massage and acupuncture. "Young students are the future of TCM," he says.

While he didn't set a timetable for the initiative, some campuses are already doing pioneering work in the field.

At Dafangjia Kindergarten in Beijing's Dongcheng district, TCM-related exercises are being done, Wang Guoqiang says.

After more than a month, the effort is paying off, he says, with the student attendance rate increasing by 10 percent. It will have long-range benefits in the prevention of disease and maintenance of health, he adds.

He says that China will open more TCM-themed Confucius institutes or classes overseas to better promote TCM abroad. There are now four such institutes, and they have been well-received by local people, he says. 

Ge Junbo, CPPCC member and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that prevention of hypertension and diabetes has improved since the two chronic diseases were included in the project for equalization of basic public health services in 2009. "But, the public still lacks the awareness of cholesterol's hazards," Ge said. 

Ge's remark was echoed by Huo Yong, CPPCC member and professor of Peking University First Hospital. "The mortality caused by cardiovascular diseases has increasingly risen without any trend of decrease because high cholesterol is a very important reason contributing to the situation." Huo said that in the past 20 years, cardiovascular patients in Beijing mostly suffered from coronary heart disease, with 77 percent of them caused by high cholesterol level. "The public health screening hasn't included cholesterol level check so far."

According to Huo, if the public health screening project included blood lipid test, it is expected to reduce coronary disease by 30 to 40 percent. "The patients who have already taken hypertension and diabetes tests only need to increase their payment by one more yuan per year to receive blood lipid tests." Huo hopes that lipid screening can be included in the national public health services as soon as possible.

Ge also had the same expectation as Huo. He suggested that residents who are older than 45 years old should receive free lipid screening in order to reduce the incidence of hypertension and dyslipidemia as well as the occurrence of heart attacks and strokes in diabetic patients.

The prevention and control of hypertension, high cholesterol and hyperlipemia (3H for short) needs policy and financial support from the State Council. Ge proposed to list of special funds from the budget of public health services for the control of 3H. Community-level hospitals should be the main force to carry out the 3H control project, reducing the incidences of heart attacks and strokes, and to reduce patients' medical expenses, he said. 

During the two sessions, NPC deputies and CPPCC members gave their remarks on chronic disease prevention. They thought that "Healthy China" has been upraised as a national strategy, and chronic disease prevention and control is one of its key tasks, which should be a shared responsibility of the whole society.

Li You, a CPPCC member, said that local governments should take chronic disease into account for the overall planning of local areas' economic and social development. The prevention and control work should be listed as performance evaluation target of local governments.

"The prevention and control mechanism should be lead by local governments, relevant departments taking up their responsibilities, and the whole society should participate," Li added.  

Health impact assessments should be considered in policy making

Wang Yonghong, NPC deputy and director of Jiangsu health and family planning commission, gave her suggestion that a health impact assessment system should be set up to evaluate the impact of development plans, policies, and major projects for people's health.

"The health and family planning departments should play a leading role in carrying out health impact assessments and improving the supervision system," she said. Wang went on to say that the assessment should be a basis for policy-making and when initiating projects. 

Health departments and medical institutions at all levels should reinforce supervision on antibiotic use and carry out inspections at least twice a year, said a circular issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC).

The NHFPC encouraged medical institutions to join the efforts to monitor the clinical use of antibiotic drugs and drug-resistant strains to improve the early warning mechanism.

Abuse of antibiotics can give rise to new strains of hardy bacteria that can live and even thrive despite the use of medication.

At present, drug-resistant infections have become a major challenge to global public health, causing the death of 700,000 people and 230,000 newborns worldwide every year.

In August 2016, the NHFPC issued a national action plan to tighten supervision over antibiotic production, sale and use.

Li Bin, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), Wang Pei'an and Wang Hesheng, deputy heads of NHFPC, take questions on health and family planning reforms at a press conference for the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Li Bin, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), Wang Pei'an and Wang Hesheng, deputy heads of NHFPC, take questions on health and family planning reforms at a press conference for the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Wang Pei'an, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), takes questions on health and family planning reforms at a press conference for the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

Wang Hesheng, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), takes questions on health and family planning reforms at a press conference for the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

Li Bin, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), answers questions on health and family planning reforms at a press conference for the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

The second-child policy pushed China's total fertility rate up to more than 1.7 last year, an increase from between 1.5 and 1.6 between 2000 and 2015.

Wang Pei'an, deputy minister in charge of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told a news conference on Saturday that the increase was due to the new policy adopted at the beginning of last year allowing all couples to have a second child.

More than 18.4 million babies were born in China last year, the highest number since 2000, Wang said.

The fertility rate is the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime.

The second-child policy pushed China's total fertility rate up to more than 1.7 last year, an increase from between 1.5 and 1.6 between 2000 and 2015.

Wang Pei'an, deputy minister in charge of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told a news conference on Saturday that the increase was due to the new policy adopted at the beginning of last year allowing all couples to have a second child.

More than 18.4 million babies were born in China last year, the highest number since 2000, Wang said.

The fertility rate is the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime.

The deputy minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission says China is not facing a labor shortage.

Wang Pei'an told a news conference on Saturday that the population aged between 15 and 64 years old was 1 billion by the end of 2015, accounting for 73 percent of China's total population.

By 2050, the number in that age group is still be more than 800 million.

Wang pointed out that that's in contrast to the combined number of 15-64 year olds in all developed countries in the United States and Europe which is 730 million at present.

The deputy minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission says China is not facing a labor shortage.

Wang Pei'an told a news conference on Saturday that the population aged between 15 and 64 years old was 1 billion by the end of 2015, accounting for 73 percent of China's total population.

By 2050, the number in that age group is still be more than 800 million.

Wang pointed out that that's in contrast to the combined number of 15-64 year olds in all developed countries in the United States and Europe which is 730 million at present.

Wang Pei'an, deputy minister in charge of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, answers questions at a press conference for the fifth session of the 12th NPC in Beijing, March 11, 2017. [Photo/Xinha]

China's second-child policy pushed the fertility rate up to more than 1.7 last year, an increase from between 1.5 and 1.6 between 2000 and 2015, Wang Pei'an, deputy minister in charge of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told a news conference on March 11.

More than 18.4 million babies were born in China last year, 2 million more than the annual number of new births for the previous five years, and the highest number since 2000, Wang said.

The fertility rate is the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime.

"The second-child policy has produced satisfactory results," Wang said. "They totally met our expectations."

More than 90 million couples became eligible to have a second child under the new policy, but only 28 percent of them are expected to have a second baby due to old age or unwillingness to have a bigger family, he said.

China is not lacking in population and even by the end of the century China's population will remain at more than 1.1 billion, Wang said.

Wang Pei'an, deputy minister in charge of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, answers questions at a press conference for the fifth session of the 12th NPC in Beijing, March 11, 2017. [Photo/Xinha]

China's second-child policy pushed the fertility rate up to more than 1.7 last year, an increase from between 1.5 and 1.6 between 2000 and 2015, Wang Pei'an, deputy minister in charge of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told a news conference on March 11.

More than 18.4 million babies were born in China last year, 2 million more than the annual number of new births for the previous five years, and the highest number since 2000, Wang said.

The fertility rate is the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime.

"The second-child policy has produced satisfactory results," Wang said. "They totally met our expectations."

More than 90 million couples became eligible to have a second child under the new policy, but only 28 percent of them are expected to have a second baby due to old age or unwillingness to have a bigger family, he said.

China is not lacking in population and even by the end of the century China's population will remain at more than 1.1 billion, Wang said.

Last week, China Daily reported that the government is considering giving "birth rewards and subsidies" to parents to encourage them to have a second child. This revolution in China's family planning policy－from restricting to encouraging childbearing－is remarkable in terms of both its speed and scope. It also shows how concerned the government is about the state of the country's demography.

At face value, a cash incentive scheme makes sense. Since one of the most frequently cited reasons for restricting childbearing (previously) in China and elsewhere is the cost of raising children, financial support seems like an intuitive response.

Yet the new policy, if approved, is not without some potential flaws. Another reason for restricting childbearing is to try and give the single child the best possible start in life by spending heavily to provide it with the best opportunities in education and other fields. So to make any ostensible difference to household spending to raise another child without appearing to diminish the life chances of the first, the amount of money to be handed to parents should be high. And for a country as large as China, such a policy could be fiscally devastating.

The second problem is that there is only limited evidence that such programs increase fertility. In Singapore, for example, the government gives various incentives worth up to 800,000 yuan ($130,000) per child. Yet Singapore still has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. Even seemingly successful schemes such as "Maternity Capital" in Russia have, on closer inspection, led to rather mixed results.

The reason for this apparent lack of success for cash incentives is that they only address one partial element of childbearing－the absolute costs. There is strong evidence to show the opportunity costs, especially for women in terms of career progression and the income effect, can be just as important.

Furthermore, considering childbearing purely in terms of financial costs also omits much broader reasons for the regional trends toward lower fertility－poor job prospects for younger people, difficulties in buying a house, cost of living, accessing adequate childcare services, pregnancy discrimination at work coupled with a poor family-friendly work culture, poor prospects of the "marriage package" in terms of diminished freedom and extra responsibilities.

In last week's China Daily report, the only government official cited was Wang Pei'an, vice-minister of the NHFPC. Wang has been instrumental in driving through these revolutionary changes in the family planning policy. But the rest of the government should also realize that the state of the country's demography is not simply a matter for the NHFPC. The reasons for very low fertility also stem from issues which lie under the purview of various other agencies and ministries, such as human resources and social security, education, housing and urban-rural development and so on. It was not just family planning restrictions that shaped China's demography over the past decades. These other ministries and agencies must therefore recognize the part they have played and take a more active role in the response.

Other countries' experiences suggest a broad social system that supports citizens to meet their aspirations－not just parents, but potential parents, children and the elderly－tends to equate to higher fertility levels. If the government is serious about clearing the "bottleneck" preventing couples from having a second child, it will need to do more than just hand them a check. It needs a societal transformation which supports parents, people who want to be parents and, ironically, people who don't.

The China Daily article quotes a "mother of a 3-year-old girl in Beijing" named Bai as saying: "I don't expect cash from the government for a second child. Sound social public policies to help working parents raise the children are needed more."

More specifically, she referred to "prolonged maternity leave, equal working opportunities for mothers, easy access to quality education resources for children and a well-functioning social welfare system". Well, Bai, I couldn't have put it better myself.

And the good news is that, Li Bin, the head of the health authorities, has promised to take care of all these factors.

The author is a visiting associate professor of social science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

China will increase the number of maternity beds by 89,000 over the next three years to help hospitals cope with the demand resulting from the second-child policy, it was announced on March 8.

Li Bin, the minister of the Health and Family Planning Commission, said a "green passage" has also been set up to ensure efficient patient referrals and quality neonatal treatment.

The moves are part of efforts to better meet clinical demands, particularly for women aged 35 or older who want a second child.

China introduced its universal second-child policy last year and about half of the women who became eligible to have another child were aged at least 35, according to the commission.

Li said the number of pediatricians will also be increased to handle the expected increase in births.

Last year, China recorded 17.86 million newborns, up by more than 1.3 million on 2015. Population scientists have predicted a baby boom in three years.

To ensure healthy development, the commission has been promoting a brochure on mother and children's health that includes pregnancy tips, information on hospital delivery, and immunization programs.

Li said the commission will work closely with other government agencies such as education, social security and finance to ensure the second-child policy is implemented properly.

The small move, for Shen Jinjin, an NPC deputy and a longtime anti-tobacco campaigner, is a big step forward in tobacco control.

As an NPC deputy for the past decade, he brought forward various suggestions to combat smoking, some of which have been accepted, such as the 100 percent smoking ban in public places introduced by Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

"We've seen strong restrictive measures over tobacco advertising in the new Advertising Law," added Shen, head of the Disease Control and Prevention Center in Yancheng, Jiangsu province.

"At the two sessions over the years, positive changes can be seen," he said.

Previously, participants in the two sessions even smoked during group discussions in the meeting rooms, and ashtrays and matches were widely placed.

In that scenario, "I would stop people politely and deliver anti-smoking messages, particularly the proven health-related hazards," he said. "NPC deputies are usually influential and I don't want to miss the opportunity to spread the message of tobacco control."

As a veteran public health worker, Shen knows well the negative health impacts from smoking and the huge medical bills from treating smoking-related diseases.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission estimates that more than 1 million Chinese die from smoking-related diseases each year.

With more information becoming available to the public, a consensus about smoking control has been gradually reached in China, the world's largest cigarette producer and consumer.

In 2015, Beijing passed the country's strongest anti-smoking law, and delegates to the two sessions thereafter became able to enjoy a truly smoke-free environment in the city.

"Now they can only smoke outside the hotel, despite the chilly and windy weather here in early March," he said.

Also, they began to accept a controlled way of smoking and "some smoking deputies even co-signed my motion urging the country to pass a State-level anti-smoking law," he noted.

Beijing pioneered the introduction of strong smoking bans in public places, which should be expanded nationwide, he urged.

"We have the knowledge that smoking harms health and we have wide support from the public for smoking controls. Why is it so difficult to make a national law?" he said.

In November, Mao Qun'an, spokesman for the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the nation's top health authority, said a national law would be enacted in 2016－and though the commission was charged to draft such a law, it didn't.

Shen blamed that on interference from the tobacco industry, a major source of tax revenue for the government. "The fight is not over, and I will keep up the effort," he said.

Bi Jingquan, chief of China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), talks to media at "ministers' passage" in Beijing, March 5, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

There is a huge market potential for drugs and more foreign pharmaceutical companies should tap the sector, Bi Jingquan, chief of China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), said on March 5.

Bi said there are several reasons behind the shortage of new drugs in China, including the availability of the medicines in other countries.

Some of the other causes are: Strict drug inspection and approval policies, shortage in drug inspection and approval personnel at the CFDA, and concerns from some foreign pharmaceutical companies over intellectual property protection in China, which make them reluctant to sell new drugs in the country, he said.

The authorities will take measures such as streamlining approval procedures for drugs, intensify protection of intellectual property rights, and increase the staff for drug approval so that more new medicines are available in the market, he added.

The total number of staff for drug approval in China rose to 600 by the end of last year, while the number for the United States was 5,000, Bi said.

The number of drugs that await approval fell to 8,000 by the end of last year, due to measures taken to accelerate approval, he said.

The fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 5, 2017. [Photo by Xu Jingxing/China Daily]

All eyes are on China's Two Sessions since it's the country's largest annual political event where the government's core policies on economic, political, and social fields are discussed. According to the People's Daily and other state-run media outlets, the main focus will be certainly the economy. In this case, we should first think of the slogan "wen zhong qiu jin (穩中求進)", which means "seeking progress while maintaining stability." This is not an exaggeration since China's top leadership made it clear that the policy will focus on "seeking progress while maintaining stability" at the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year.

--Asia Today

Economic growth

High on the agenda is how the government will help the economy adapt to growth that has fallen to its lowest level since 1990.

--AP

Supply-side reform

With the framework somewhat settled, Chinese leaders are expected to discuss the details, including intensifying structural reform on the supply side.

--Arirang, South Korea

State-Owned Enterprises

Ma Bangui, however, was just an ordinary worker at a state-owned gas company in the northeastern city of Dandong when he was elected to the NPC. Ma says SOE workers currently lack motivation, and their jobs should be incentivized through bonuses and other perks, like private companies do.

--Time magazine's website

Left-behind children

Tens of millions of rural Chinese flock to factories on the coast every spring, but their children are only eligible for free schooling in their home villages. These "left-behind children" — estimated at 61 million last year — are typically cared for by elderly grandparents but frequently struggle estranged from their parents and with only poor educational facilities available.

--Time magazine's website

Agriculture

Chinese agriculture suffers from a lack of professionalism and mechanization, leading to the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides to keep yields high.

--Time magazine's website

Rural health care

Especially in rural areas, doctors are poorly equipped, trained and work horrendous hours; many are even attacked by frustrated patients. Owing to low wages, many doctors elicit bribes from patients to provide treatment.

--Time magazine's website

Wang said CPPCC has made numerous proposals in 2016 in regards to medical reform but still need to do more to tackle problems on healthcare reform and many tough challenges.

The annual session of the top political advisory body will be held from March 3 to 13, 2017.

Temperatures will be slightly lower this weekend as the two sessions open, the national meteorological authority said on Wednesday.

The session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will begin on Friday in Beijing, while that of the National People's Congress will open on Sunday. The sessions will end in mid-March.

A cold front will bring strong winds and lower temperatures to the capital this weekend, said Zhang Zuqiang, spokesman for the China Meteorological Administration.

He said another cold front is forecast to arrive on March 14.

The weather conditions will help disperse pollutants until March 12, when visibility will be lowered in Beijing, Zhang said. The meteorological authority did not release an air pollution forecast, but it provided information on visibility and weather conditions that can disperse pollutants.

An air quality forecast issued on Wednesday by the China National Environmental Monitoring Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that between March 9 and 11, the capital could experience light pollution.

Before that date, the capital will see blue skies, according to the forecast.  

The media center for the annual sessions of China's top legislature and advisory body will accommodate reporters from home and abroad. The fifth annual session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) will open on March 5 in Beijing while the fifth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will open two days earlier. [Photo/VCG]

Computers will be available for reporters covering the annual event. The media center is located in Beijing's Media Center Hotel where reporters can use its public computer ports, free wifi and conduct interviews in the lobby. [Photo/VCG]

People work on computers on tables in the media center. [Photo/VCG]

A man takes a photo in the media center. [Photo/VCG]

More than 3,000 journalists have registered to cover the sessions. The session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will begin on Friday in Beijing, while that of the National People's Congress will open on Sunday. The two sessions will end in mid-March, according to a statement by the center.

The number of registrations is basically the same as that of the past few years, but the number of foreign journalists has risen rapidly, an official of the center said.

In an important year for implementing the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), a number of economic topics have been vigorously discussed in public, such as the exchange rate of the RMB and housing prices.

The media center will hold several news conferences during the two sessions on the country's economy, and officials and professionals from ministries and other authorities will answer reporters' questions, the statement said.

"We are negotiating with the authorities, requiring them to analyze the Government Work Report and policies," said the center official, who did not give his name. He added that the officials and those from governmental departments who were invited have shown their willingness to come.

The news conference agenda will be provided to journalists via the NPC's website and its WeChat account in a timely manner, while NPC deputies' motions will be provided online for reporters.

On Monday afternoon, when a China Daily reporter went to the center in Beijing's Media Center Hotel in Haidian district, staff members were ready to provide services, such as helping journalists search for materials and find documents.

All places in the center are covered with free Wi-Fi, aiming to provide network convenience for journalists to send reports and search for materials.

Meanwhile, journalists can surf the internet free on more than 10 public computers on the center's first floor, and they can take shuttle buses to other conference venues.

In addition, brochures, agendas and materials relating to the two sessions have been provided in multiple languages.

Journalists can also conduct interviews in the center's lobby. 

Political advisors from central China's Henan Province were the first to arrive on Wednesday.

On Sunday, the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, will also convene its annual session. Dubbed the "two sessions," the dual gathering is significant in China's political calendar as it sets the national agenda for the year and beyond.

This year the meetings carry extra weight as they are the fifth and last sessions of the 12th NPC and the 12th CPPCC National Committee.

At the parliamentary assembly, legislators are expected to deliberate a draft decision on deputy elections for the 13th NPC, and draft methods for the election of deputies to the 13th NPC from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

The two sessions are also the first high-profile national political events held since President Xi Jinping was endorsed as the core of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee at a key CPC meeting last October.

Pledges to conform to the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core are expected to feature significantly.

"The CPC needs a strong core of leadership. Otherwise, it will have no cohesiveness or competence to lead all manners of undertakings. The endorsement of Xi as the core has come naturally, with the backing of the entire Party and the people," said Xin Ming, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Much of the focus during the March sessions will center on the economic front, as in previous years, with a government work report to be delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to confirm the country's growth targets for the year.

China registered 6.7 percent GDP growth in 2016, a nearly three-decade low, amid concerns over weak growth momentum in major economies, rising trade protectionism, domestic debt overhang, excess capacity and a highly leveraged property market.

However the growth rate was within the Chinese government's target range and outpaced most other major economies, scotching rumors of a hard landing.

Although no official target for this year will be available until the opening of the parliamentary session, China has targeted average annual growth of more than 6.5 percent during the 13th-five-year plan (2016-2020).

Explaing the plan to a key Party conference in late 2015, President Xi Jinping said maintaining an average annual growth of at least 6.5 percent was necessary to reach the target of doubling GDP and per capita income from 2010 levels by 2020.

The target is crucial for China to attain its two centenary goals: becoming a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2021, the 100th anniversary of the CPC, and a modern socialist country that is "prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious" by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

"I see 2017 as showing considerable continuity with 2016. Growth will continue to be fueled primarily by the increasing importance of consumption as opposed to investment, and services as opposed to industry," said Nicholas R. Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

With the CPC set to hold its 19th National Congress in Beijing in the second half of the year, stabilizing the economy will be prioritized by policymakers.

A Central Economic Work Conference late last year made "seeking progress while maintaining stability" the main theme for economic work in 2017, pledging progress in supply-side structural reform.

Xu Guangjian, vice dean of Renmin University's School of Public Administration, is confident in China's ability to maintain medium-high growth of 6.5 to 7 percent.

"The domestic market is yet to be further tapped, the infrastructure sector has huge potential for investment and resident consumption keeps growing steadily," he said.

Zheng Xinye, assistant dean of Renmin University's School of Economics, suggested increasing effective supply in medical, education and housing sectors in order to meet people's needs, give people a greater sense of gain and ensure steady economic growth.

For those eyeing the effects of China's economic projects on the rest of the world, the Belt and Road Initiative will be a focus.

The initiative, which has yielded infrastructure projects, economic and trade cooperation zones, and jobs, is telling evidence of China's resolution to champion free trade and open markets amid increasing anti-globalization sentiment and rising trade protectionism.

"The Initiative signals China's active participation in global economic and financial governance. Rather than a passive player in the building and maintenance of the international economic order, China has taken on responsibilities that match its economic status and national strength," Xu said.

Lawmakers and political advisors will also take the occasion to review and discuss a draft General Provisions of Civil Law, which states the basic principles of the country's long-awaited civil code.

The drafting of the general provisions started in March 2015. Since June last year, the draft has gone through three readings at the top legislature. During the process, many opinions and revisions have been taken on board to address people's concerns, adapt to the country's needs and embody socialist values.

It is rare for a draft law or an amendment to go through three readings and not be passed. One outstanding case was the property law, which was passed in March 2007 after eight readings.

The draft states that personal liberties and human dignity are protected by the law, and is expected to be approved at the upcoming parliamentary session, a crucial first step in introducing a civil code, hopefully in 2020.

Since a decision to compile a civil code was made in October 2014, it has been treated as a necessary move to perfect the country's socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, and significant in modernizing state governance.

Compiling a civil code takes two steps: formulating the general provisions, and integrating separate civil laws into a unified code.

"The making of the general provisions and the civil code will elevate the protection of civil rights to a new height," said Professor Yin Tian with the Law School of Peking University.

"This will contribute significantly to promoting the sound development of the economy, improving state governance, and preventing state power from encroaching upon the legitimate rights of civil subjects," Yin said.

Other topics at the NPC session include a state budgetary review, military spending and law enforcement.

China announced a 7.6 percent rise in its national defense budget last year, the lowest growth in six years, breaking off a five-year run of double-digit increases between 2011 and 2015.

The increase in 2015 was 10.1 percent.

The total number of proposals from the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference has increased rapidly in the past two decades, according to Tian Jie, deputy head of the subcommittee for handling proposals.

"Back in 1993, when the first session of the 8th National Committee of the CPPCC was held, about 2,000 proposals were raised by members," he said. "The number climbed to 5,000 in 2008 and has remained steady at around 6,000 since 2013."

Led by the Communist Party of China, the CPPCC includes representatives from other political parties, mass organizations and people from different social circles.

The fifth session of the 12th National Committee of the CPPCC will start on March 3. It is part of the annual "two sessions" during the month, which also includes the National People's Congress, the highest organ of State power.

During the CPPCC session, about 300 group proposals from central committees of other political parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce are expected to be submitted.

Tian said the subcommittee has called for an increase in the number of group proposals - joint efforts from members that are submitted only after strict screening.

"In 2013, around 7 percent of proposals were raised by groups. Last year, it was 9.48 percent," he added.

Xi Yanchun, a spokeswoman for the State Council Information Office, said on Feb 7 that State Council departments had acted on 90.9 percent of members' proposals that came out of the National Committee of the CPPCC during last year's two sessions.

Members' proposals attract a lot of public attention and many suggestions are used by government agencies, according to Sun Gan, chief of the subcommittee for handling proposals of the CPPCC National Committee.

One good example is proposals to combat violence against hospitals and doctors, he said. In 2014, a proposal jointly raised by 89 CPPCC members called for regulations on public order at hospitals because of the growing amount of violence targeting doctors and other medical staff.

Sun said the Ministry of Public Security, National Health and Family Planning Commission and other authorities jointly released a document and set up police offices at major hospitals.

"So far, more than 85 percent of hospitals have police offices," he added. "In 2016, the criminal cases at hospitals decreased by 14.1 percent, which represented a two-digit decrease three years in a row." 

Shandong's Class A tertiary comprehensive hospitals, Class A tertiary children hospitals and Class A tertiary maternal and child care service centers have set up reporting mechanisms as of March 1 to register rare diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, brittle bone disease and idiopathic pulmonary hypertension.

"Rare diseases registration is a prevention and control measure accepted by the international community. The registration mechanism can accurately count the number of patients and which rare disease they suffer," said Qiu Bingyu, vice-director of the Health and Family Planning Commission of Shandong province. 

Qiu said that rare disease registration supports a reasonable distribution of medical resources allowing concentration on the treatment and research of rare diseases.

Shandong province has taken many measures to prevent and control rare diseases in recent years including setting up the Shandong rare diseases prevention and control association, a rare disease academic group.

The regulation, signed by Premier Li Keqiang, specifies the responsibilities of governments at various levels and assigns them the leading role in disability prevention and improving rehabilitation services for the disabled.

The government promised financial and material support to institutions that work with the disabled, it said, adding medical service for the disabled, particularly children under six, poor people with disabilities and the severely disabled, must be improved.

It called for a better system to collect and share information on the disabled.

Disability prevention should be incorporated into sectors such as disease prevention and control, maternal and child health care, as well as transportation and work safety, it noted.

Vulnerable regions, population groups, industries and organizations should be given priority in disability prevention, according to the regulation.

The regulation comes into force on July 1, 2017.

Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) gave a keynote instruction on the conference. Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of the NHFPC attended the conference and delivered a speech.  

Li praised China's health departments' achievements in diseases prevention and control in the past year, "Local medical staff stuck their posts and did their best to prevent and control contagious diseases, endemic diseases, parasitic diseases, chronic diseases and mental diseases in local areas, improving people's health conditions." 

She hoped that medical staff at all level can further carry out "Healthy China" strategy, improve the diseases prevention and control system and upgrade the quality of public health services, keeping people away from diseases.

Wang said that during the past year, the top health authorities released special plans for critical diseases prevention and control and the national immunization plan was further improved. 

"In 2017, the health departments at all levels should implement the policies of vaccine circulation supervision and vaccine inoculation, strengthen the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases, push forward chronic diseases prevention and control, improve metal health services and upgrade diseases prevention and control system," Wang specified the key works of this year.

People who are vulnerable to hepatitis B and hepatitis C such as users of injected drugs, HIV infected persons, children whose mothers are infected with hepatitis B or hepatitis C, and viral hepatitis infected persons should be listed as focused groups to be tested.

According to the WHO, there are about 300 million people infected with hepatitis B and hepatitis C, but less than five percent of them have been tested and the virus hepatitis has caused 1.4 million deaths. The guide defines which people should receive testing and where and how to do the testing. It simplifies the testing method and gives treatment recommendations for people who test positive.

Mark Bartlett, who is in charge of the WHO’s global liver disease program, praised China's achievements in hepatitis prevention and control, especially the hepatitis B vaccination in Chinese children.

"China's health departments provide services for preventing the maternal-neonatal transmissions of hepatitis B, syphilis, and AIDS to all the pregnant women in China, which effectively safeguards maternal and child health,"Bartlett said.

Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, a WHO representative in China, said that the guide is meaningful to China, "People who receive testing can detect the infection as soon as possible, and taking effective treatments at an early stage can stop liver disease from worsening."

The guide is a continuation file that WHO recently released for the prevention, care, and treatment of chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C. 

Human cases have been rising in China.

The new strain, two human cases of which were reported in Guangdong province, shows resistance to oseltamivir phosphate, a commonly used drug in the prevention and treatment of flu, said Zhong Nanshan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, according to a report published on Sunday by Nanfang Daily, a newspaper in the provincial capital of Guangzhou.

Although the two patients are resistant to the drug, oseltamivir phosphate has been effective for most human H7N9 cases, Zhong was reported as saying. "This shows most H7N9 viruses have not mutated to the new strain," he said.

He Jianfeng, chief expert in infectious disease at the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that although the new H7N9 strain shows resistance to the drug, the drug could still have an effect on the strain.

"Both patients have used oseltamivir phosphate before, so it is not known whether the drug resistance is caused by previous use of the dug or by a mutation of the virus," He told Nanfang Daily. "But the possible drug-resistant nature of the new strain deserves more attention."

Much of China has seen the H7N9 outbreak since the start of winter. In most cases, it has been linked to exposure to live poultry. In January alone, the Chinese mainland reported 192 human cases of the virus, including 79 deaths, making it the worst outbreak since the virus was first reported in China in 2013, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The total number of human cases this year increased to 296, including 94 deaths, as of Sunday, covering more than half of all provincial areas in China, China Central Television reported.

The new strain is more dangerous to poultry, but poses no new threat to humans, and it is not more infectious to humans at the moment, according to a statement by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Feb 19. Current research shows that the H7N9 virus is not easily transmitted between humans, according to the World Health Organization.

Zhong could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

He Xiong, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said the new strain does not result in increased risk of human-to-human transmission of the virus, but unlike other H7N9 viruses, it can cause diseases in poultry, which should be studied further.

Only two human H7N9 cases have been reported in Beijing this year, and both of them involve patients who are from other parts of China and were transferred to Beijing for treatment, He Xiong said.

"There may be sporadic cases, but the possibility of a large-scale outbreak in Beijing is slim, as authorities and the public are well prepared," he said, adding that scientists are still conducting research into the virus to ascertain whether it is linked to climate, to ensure better prevention and control.

Guo Yanhong, deputy director of medical administration at the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), said that in July 2016 nine departments under the State Council, or China's Cabinet, co-initiated a special program to fight against medical criminal offenses.

Public security organs around the country strengthened public security maintenance in and around medical institutions and curbed illegal activities in a timely manner, said Guo.

Eighty-five percent of large-scale hospitals have had police offices built in them, and more than 6,000 have installed alarm systems that are connected to the local public security network, Guo said.

The Supreme People's Court released data at the conference showing that the number of conflicts between health workers and patients has fallen in recent years.

The total number of civil and criminal cases stemming from medical disputes fell by 6.7 percent last year compared with 2015, according to the top court.

Civil courts nationwide received 21,480 cases last year in which litigants claimed compensation for medical disputes, down by 7.5 percent year-on-year. Of those cases, 6,489 were resolved through mediation, while 3,572 were withdrawn.

The data did not include figures for criminal cases.

Guo said that the rule of law is important to build a harmonious doctor-patient relationship.

In dealing with medical cases, such legal means as conciliation and litigation should be used, noted Guo.

Mediation has become a major channel to address medical disputes, said Guo, adding that over 60,000 cases were settled in this way and more than 85 percent were settled satisfactorily.

The NHFPC will continue the reform of the medical and health sector and improve health services centered on patients. Humanistic care will also be strengthened, according to Guo.

Li Bin, minister of the NHFPC, attended the conference and delivered a speech.

According to the conference, 16 provinces in China have reported H7N9 infections and deaths since January. As experts predicted, the current epidemic is under control, but the disease will spread further if it isn't strictly controlled through effective measures.

The top health authorities stressed that health departments at all levels should take all possible efforts to strictly control H7N9, decreasing the harm the epidemic may cause to people's health and safety.

According to the conference, the areas where H7N9 has been reported or live poultry was detected with H7N9 positive pathogens should close and sterilize these live poultry markets. Health departments at all levels should strengthen their epidemic monitoring to stop the infection from spreading. The NHFPC insists that medical institutions should try their best to treat the infected patients and safeguard people's safety. The national health department will release epidemic information in a timely manner and raise the public's awareness about the disease.

"Health departments at all levels should take on the responsibility and take effective measures fighting against the epidemic," Li vowed that local health departments across China will cooperate together to prevent the epidemic from spreading.

Relevant officials from local health departments attended the video conference.

Calling the situation "complicated and grim," Vice Minister of Agriculture Yu Kangzhen ordered local agricultural agencies to intensify monitoring of poultry markets and step up disinfection programs to minimize risks.

Yu also called on efforts against other animal epidemics and help in upgrading the poultry industry.

Since January, at least 270 H7N9 human infections have been reported in China, with at least 87 fatalities. Most cases were around the Yangtze and Pearl river deltas.

The situation has prompted health authorities to step up prevention and control measures, including a ban on live the poultry trade in places where H7N9 cases have been reported.

H7N9 was first reported in humans in China in March 2013 and is most likely to strike in winter and spring. 

"The reported genetic changes in the H7N9 virus apply to poultry and there is no evidence that the changes in the virus affect the virus' ability to spread between humans," the WHO China Office said in a statement provided to China Daily on Tuesday.

"Currently, the risk of human-to-human transmission is low, as this virus does not appear to transmit easily from person to person," it said.

China has stepped up prevention of H7N9 avian flu transmission. It has been linked to at least 88 deaths since January. About 271 cases of human infection  have been reported. 

The H7N9 bird flu virus has mutated to a new strain in South China, which has proven more dangerous to poultry, but poses no new threat to humans, China CDC said in a statement posted on its website on Sunday.

The mutation was found in January in two people who had contracted H7N9 bird flu in Guangdong province, both having had exposure to live poultry. China CDC has confirmed the finding and reported the case to the WHO, it said.

The agricultural sector has also found the mutation in four poultry samples from Guangdong, China CDC said.

On the basis of a joint study with experts from the agricultural sector, China CDC has concluded that the mutation "does not make the virus more infectious to humans at the moment."

Chinese health and agricultural authorities will continue to study the mutated strain's source and its impact while intensifying monitoring to detect H7N9's further mutations, according to the statement on China CDC's website.

"Reported changes suggest that the virus continues to evolve as part of its natural progression. Influenza viruses continuously evolve and re-assort, so it is important to remain vigilant," the WHO said.

"WHO is working with international partners, including China, to coordinate the global health response, including risk assessment, the provision of updated information on the situation, and guidance for health authorities and technical health agencies on interim surveillance recommendations, laboratory testing of cases, infection control and clinical management," it said.

The Guangdong provincial government has banned exports of live poultry to other areas of China until March 31, unless the poultry has passed veterinary tests for the virus. Meanwhile, Guangdong also suspended imports of live poultry from provinces more seriously hit by H7N9 cases - such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui - until the end of March, according to the provincial government. 

The mutation was found in January in two people who had contracted H7N9 bird flu in Guangdong Province. Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) has lately confirmed the finding and reported the case to the World Health Organization (WHO), according to China CDC's website.

The agricultural sector has also found the mutation in four poultry samples from Guangdong, China CDC said.

On the basis of joint study with experts from the agricultural sector, China CDC has concluded that the mutation "does not make the virus more infectious to human at the moment."

Chinese health and agricultural authorities will continue to study the mutated strain's source and its impact while intensifying monitoring to detect H7N9's further mutations, according to China CDC's website.

China has stepped up prevention of H7N9 avian flu transmission. It has been linked to at least 88 deaths since January. About 271 human infections cases were reported.

Most infected humans have had contact with poultry or dead birds. Among them were the two patients from Guangdong.

Bird flu is known to easily mutate. The public are concerned that a mutation might make it more infectious to humans, China CDC said on its website.

The administration will continue to provide assistance and guidance for clinical trials of the vaccines so they can enter the market as soon as possible, it said in a statement last week.

Beijing Tiantan Biological Products Co, a State-owned enterprise in Beijing, which developed the vaccines, announced on Wednesday that the China Food and Drug Administration had approved clinical trials. The company added that it must conduct other procedures after the completion of clinical trials before the vaccines can be sold on the market, including applying for registration of the drugs and acquiring certificates for their manufacture from the CFDA.

There are currently no vaccines for the H7N9 strain of bird flu－which is most active in winter and spring－available on the market in China or overseas, although several other domestic companies have also acquired approval from CFDA for clinical trials for similar products, Beijing Tiantan said.

Two human cases of H7N9 have been reported in Beijing this year, with both patients suspected of having been exposed to live poultry markets. Both are in critical condition, the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention said last week.

A 41-year-old woman infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, died on Sunday, the regional Health and Family Planning Commission said.

The central government has intensified measures to control the spread of H7N9, including shutting down live poultry markets, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. The commission called on the public to take precautionary measures such as avoiding contact with live poultry and cooking chicken meat thoroughly.

Human cases of H7N9 have been reported in 16 provinces in China since October, including in Yunnan, Fujian, Hubei and Hunan provinces, with most of them involving exposure to live poultry markets, according to the commission.

In January alone, 192 human cases of H7N9 were reported on the Chinese mainland, including 79 deaths, making it the worst period since the virus first appeared in China in 2013, the commission said.

There is no evidence to support sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus, which was first reported in the spring of 2013, according to the World Health Organization.

The Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that more sporadic cases are expected in the city.

Sporadic cases of the bird flu may last until late April, said Ni Daxin, deputy director of emergency response at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cui Li (fourth from right), deputy minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, attended a signing ceremony between China and Japan on medical cooperation.

Cui Li, deputy minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), attended the signing ceremony of China-Japan Sasakawa Medical Cooperation program where she made a speech.

The five-year program is aimed at fostering high-end medical talent for China and encourages collaborated research between the two countries in frontier domains.

The program was originally known as the Sasakawa Medical Scholarship, which launched in 1987.

As part of the exchange program for medical personnel between China and Japan, China sent about 80 Chinese doctors and nurses to Japan every year for them to pursue further studies or research at medical universities and hospitals throughout Japan. 

Cheng Yonghua, China's ambassador to Japan, said, "The Sasakawa Medical Scholarship program is highly effective and both sides vigorously promote the cultivation of China’s medical talents."

"At the same time, it also promotes mutual understanding between the two countries and plays a positive role in advancing mutual trust," Cheng said. 

Over the past thirty years, around 2,200 medical workers in China have benefited from the program in over ten different subjects, including foundation and clinical medicine. 

Many of the medical personnel who joined the program have since become leading researchers and renowned doctors throughout China. 

Representatives from the health sector in Japan, including Japanese ambassador to China Yokoi Yutaka, Nippon Foundation President Takeju Ogata, and the Japan China Medical Association President Ogawa Hideoki, also attended the ceremony.

Wang Liyan contributed to this story.

Cui said that the NHFPC played an important role in health-relevant foreign affairs last year, including successfully hosting the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion, deepening cooperation and exchange with Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and strengthening medical assistance to foreign countries.

"This year, health departments at all levels should focus on pushing forward the construction of Healthy China and deepening cooperation with the WHO and other major international organizations and countries," Cui said. She continued, saying that health departments should play an active role in global health promotion and push forward health cooperation with countries along the "Belt and Road".

"Health departments give medical assistance to foreign countries and actively take part in global health promotion, which will contribute a lot to China's foreign affairs," Cui added.

Also taking part in the conference were relevant officials from local health departments and professors as well as social groups' members.

That's what Bai Yansong, a popular TV host, said during an emotional award ceremony for the 2016 "Touching China" -- an annual program aired on China's state broadcaster, which praises ordinary Chinese people who made big contributions to the development of the country.

Guo Xiaoping (right) accepts an award as one of the winners of 2016 “Touching China” on Feb 8, 2017. [Photo/cctv.com]

Guo Xiaoping, headmaster of Red Ribbon School in Linfen, North China's Shanxi province, became one of the ten winners. 

In 2004, Guo, president of the Linfen No 3 People's Hospital, opened a "love classroom" in the hospital for children with HIV/AIDS who were denied access to public schools due to their disease. 

Since then, the classroom has attracted more and more students with the disease who have lost one or both of their parents due to the virus.

Guo Xiaoping, headmaster of the Red Ribbon School, plays with students with HIV/AIDS during a class break. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

On Sept 1, 2006, Guo formally established the Red Ribbon School and in 2011, the school was included in the national education system.

Guo Xiaoping, headmaster of the Red Ribbon School, teaches students with HIV/AIDS in the classroom. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Red Ribbon School is the sole educational institution for HIV-positive students in China, and it has altogether 33 students at present. 

After the video about Zhou and his school finished, thunderous applause was heard at the ceremony. Many audience members at the ceremony were moved to tears. 

"When I first started the school, I felt like a pretty great but busy person because I shouldered this social responsibility. Now, since I have become more intimate with these children, the feeling of greatness has weakened. They are just like my children," said Guo at the ceremony.

Guo Xiaoping, headmaster of the Red Ribbon School, poses with HIV-positive children. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Chen Yulu, a committee member who recommended Zhou, said, "From treating the body of the patients to healing their hearts, he has devoted so much wisdom and courage."

Guo Xiaoping, headmaster of the Red Ribbon School, celebrates Children’s Day with HIV-positive children. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

According to the Supreme People's Procuratorate, violations of operating procedures were mainly blamed for the contamination of patients' blood.

"We will pay close attention to the latest developments in the investigation and trace their progress, and supervise local prosecuting departments to properly handle the cases," said a senior official at the SPP's investigation and supervision department who declined to reveal his name.

He said they will ensure the cases are "dealt with in accordance with the law to protect people's legitimate rights and other interests".

In early February, five people were infected with HIV after a technician at Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Hangzhou reused pipettes on separate patients, according to Zhejiang Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission.

In Shandong, nine patients were infected with hepatitis B during dialysis in January after medical staff in the hospital's hemodialysis unit neglected their duties.

The SPP will release investigation results to the public in a timely manner when progress is made. If the medical staff is found to be involved in malpractice or negligence they will face criminal punishment according to the law.

The procuratorate said that it had been closely watching the latest developments in the investigation and asked for early intervention by local prosecuting departments to help police objectively collect evidence.

In early February, five people were found infected with HIV after a technician at Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital reused pipettes on separate patients, according to Zhejiang provincial health and family planning commission.

In Shandong, a total of nine patients were infected by hepatitis B in January after medical staff at the hospital's hemodialysis unit were negligent.

Released by the National Health and Family Commission (NHFPC), the plan shows that the census, dynamic monitoring, and decision-making supporting system would be further improved.

The health and family planning information of the migrant population will be managed by information technology in a comprehensive way, wrote the plan. 

Statistics show that the migrant population of China reached 247 million, accounting for 18 percent of the national total. Of those, 75 percent of the population has transferred from rural to urban areas. 

It is predicted that the number will be 200 million by 2020. 

Most of the migrant population are young and vigorous, but lack of health literacy, according to the plan.

Both physical and psychological problems are easy to be overlooked and thus, pose a challenge to the public health service. Those people are also more vulnerable to infectious diseases. 

The plan gives specific targets by 2020 regarding six indexes, including the basic public health service, health education, children's preventive vaccination, physical examination for children under three, and family planning services.

A pregnant woman who lost her first child is accompanied by medical staff from the Northwest Women and Children's Hospital in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, on Feb 13, 2017. [Photo by Shao Rui/Xinhua]

Medical staff at the Northwest Women and Children's Hospital in Xi’an call a mother who just gave birth to a new baby after her first child died. [Photo by Shao Rui/Xinhua]

Sun Ting (middle), a doctor from the Northwest Women and Children's Hospital communicates with a couple who lost their child. The hospital is giving free counseling to those whose children died and want to have a second child. [Photo by Shao Rui/Xinhua]

A doctor from the Northwest Women and Children's Hospital observes embryonic development in a laboratory on Feb 13, 2017. The hospital takes various measures to help those who want to have a second child after the death of their first child. [Photo by Shao Rui/Xinhua]

The rate was also set 20 percent decrease of that in 2015, according to the medium and long-term guideline on preventing chronic diseases (2017-25). The document said the next four years will see prevention and control of chronic diseases significantly improved as the country aims to take all residents in all age groups under its healthcare management system by 2025.

Medical insurance and other assistance will be strengthened to ease the financial burden for patients, while the supply chain for medicines will be ensured, the document said.

Chronic diseases are conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity and arthritis, which are among the most common, costly and preventable health problems. By August last year, China had about 300 million people suffering from these diseases and conditions, according to the China Journal for Preventive Medicine.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission will work with other departments to carry out the guideline with joint inspection and assessment in 2020 and 2025, the guideline said. 

The China office of the United Nations health agency delivered the message after the top health authority ordered on Monday a nationwide overhaul of medical security as part of the response to the incident in Zhejiang province.

Agencies and individuals involved in the incident will be held accountable, according to an online statement by the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

At least five people were infected with HIV after a technician at Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital reused pipettes on separate patients, the provincial health commission said on Thursday.

On the same day, media reported the results of an investigation into the improper handling of medical equipment in Qingdao, Shandong province, which led to patients being infected with hepatitis B.

In both cases, the top health authority sent investigation teams to work with local authorities to assess the scope of the situation and identify measures to prevent future occurrences.

A criminal investigation into the matter in Zhejiang is underway. Law experts said health workers causing death or severe harm to patients' health due to negligence face up to three years in prison.

The WHO said that an appropriate response must go beyond investigation and punitive measures.

"Cultivating a culture of patient safety in healthcare delivery is critical," it said.

But a culture of patient safety goes beyond incident reporting. It is also reflected in budgetary decisions to supply sufficient quantities of safety equipment, invest in training and appropriately allocate qualified staff relative to workload, the WHO added.

The Zhejiang incident was first reported to the provincial commission on Jan 26 and made public on Feb 9.

Ni Daxin, deputy director of emergency response for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Wednesday that the H7N9 epidemic appears to have been contained because fewer new cases are being reported daily.

"The peak of the epidemic seems to have passed, but smaller outbreaks may last into late April," he said at a news conference held by the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

He called for strengthening measures to control the virus, in particular shutting down additional live poultry markets.

In January alone, the Chinese mainland reported 192 human cases of H7N9, including 79 deaths, making it the worst season since the virus first appeared in the country in 2013, according to the commission.

The situation has rekindled public concern about potential viral mutations that could facilitate human-to-human transmission and an H7N9 pandemic.

Shu Yuelong, head of the Chinese National Influenza Center, said the virus has so far shown no mutations that would enable a sustained human spread.

However, he said that there have been four family clusters reported since September, and two may have involved human-to-human transmission via close contact.

Each of the two clusters involved two family members, with the first patient contracting the virus through exposure to live poultry in both cases, Shu said, without providing more details.

"These were highly individual, and all other patients were infected through contact with infected live poultry or wild birds," he stressed.

China has a national, real-time viral surveillance network and a joint epidemic control force involving several departments covering areas such as agriculture and commerce, according to a division director with the health commission who declined to be named.

"This collaboration is crucial to fighting viruses like H7N9, which can infect birds and humans," he said. Information exchanges helped agricultural authorities determine that H7N9 contamination is concentrated at live poultry markets, not at chicken farms.

In the hardest-hit regions, almost half of the remaining live poultry markets were found to have H7N9 contamination, he said.

During this H7N9 bird flu season, which started in October, the virus had infected 306 people and by the end of January had killed 100 in 16 provinces, including Guangdong, Jiangsu and Anhui.

Most cases happened in the south and on the eastern seaboard, Ni said, adding that the main reasons were weather conditions and "the local habits of buying live or freshly slaughtered chickens".

In response, regions have shut down live poultry trading and markets as part of effort to contain the outbreak.

But that is only a short-term, emergency measure, Ni said. "The ultimate way out is to upgrade the industry, shifting to large-scale poultry farming and slaughtering."

The closing of live poultry markets has proved effective in slowing the spread of the virus, he said, adding that the public can also help by avoiding live poultry markets or handling live poultry or their droppings.

"If the public buys only frozen poultry, control of the epidemic will be much easier. The nutritional value is equal to that of freshly slaughtered poultry, but it involves far fewer health risks," Ni added.

Cui said that the health emergency work has made many improvements in the past year. She deemed it vital that health departments at all levels should carry out skill competitions for health emergency responses; push forward the constructions for emergency response systems and medical bases; strengthen the health emergency response abilities of Belt and Road regions; and further the cooperation with the international community.  

Cui stressed that all health departments should also strengthen emergency medical rescue methods and the prevention and control of public health emergencies. In particular, local departments should strengthen H7N9 prevention and control to safeguard people's health.  

Officials and representatives from health departments at all levels also took part in the conference.

Huang said that the Chinese government has been paying great attention to organ transplants. It released regulations on human organ transplantation in 2007; it added organ trafficking and involuntary removal of organs into the national criminal code. From the beginning of 2015, China imposed a total ban on the use of executed prisoners' organs for transplantation, Huang said, describing the process as "an arduous journey."

Huang presented a large amount of data on China's supervision system for organ transplants. According to Huang, hundreds of foreigners used to come to China every year for transplant tourism before the Chinese government banned the practice in 2009. 

From 2007 to 2016, Chinese authorities formed joint task forces and cracked down on 32 illegal intermediaries, investigated 18 medical institutions, eradicated 14 black market dens, and prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned 174 people—including 50 medical personnel, Huang said, referring to the "zero tolerance" action to behaviors violating organ transplantation regulations and laws. 

On behalf of China at the summit, Huang also proposed to establish a WHO task force to fulfill the mission of the Pontifical Academy Summit (PAS ) in order to eradicate organ trafficking. 

"We believe the key for resolving this issue is legislation and law enforcement. The summit will be an important reference for China's legislation and law enforcement," the Chinese expert said. "Please be assured of China's clear position on prohibiting organ trafficking and transplant tourism to fulfill the goal of the summit for the humanity of the entire world."

At the summit, more than 70 scientists, experts, and officials from different countries and international organizations attended the discussion on organ trafficking and transplant tourism, in a bid to set up further guidelines and ethical rules in curbing illegal activities worldwide.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine have dispatched a joint task force to Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to look into the incident, according to a statement issued on the NHFPC official website on Monday night. And the authorities will send out another task force soon to supervise a subsequent investigation and look into the handling of the serious medical incident.

Li Bin, director of the NHFPC, has urged all out efforts to treat the infected patients and the adoption of emergency prevention measures, according to the statement. She also demanded harsh punishments according to the law for those responsible .

A medical staffer at Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine violated procedure by reusing hypodermic needles on patients, infecting five people with HIV as a result, according to a statement issued by the Zhejiang Health and Family Planning Commission last Thursday.

Five officials at the hospital have been sacked, including its president and executive vice-president, the statement added.

That's what Liang Yijian said at the award ceremony of the 2016 "Touching China" -- an annual program aired on China's state broadcaster, which praises ordinary Chinese people who have made big contributions to the development of the country.

Liang Yijian, an orthopedist from No 3 Hospital in Chengdu, talks with a TV host at the award ceremony of the 2016 "Touching China" on Feb 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Liang Yijian, an orthopedist from No 3 Hospital in Chengdu, at the ceremony of the 2016 "Touching China". [Photo/Xinhua]

Liang is an orthopedist from the No 3 Hospital in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province.

He has treated more than 1,000 patients with severe scoliosis, or curvature of the spine. Scoliosis is classified as a severe condition, and is potentially damaging to a patient's lungs and heart.

Doctor Liang Yijian inserts metal bars into the body of one of his patients who suffers from scoliosis at No 3 Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan province. [Photo by Wang Bo/people.com.cn]

Liang inserts metal bars into the body of patients to form a brace that helps straighten their backs. In this way, he has treated many patients who were told by other hospitals that there was no cure.

As many of the patients are from rural and less developed areas, unable to afford the costs, Liang has helped raise money for their treatment.

Doctor Liang Yijian adjusts the mode of traction for one of his patients at No 3 Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan province. [Photo by Wang Bo/people.com.cn]

Since 2014, Liang's team has been cooperating with non-profit foundations and has collected five million yuan ($ 728,000) for nearly 200 patients.

"Seeing you is just like seeing light. Yes, just like the light of rebirth," said Xu Fenglian, one of Liang's patients, who called doctor Liang "father Liang". 

In Xu’s eyes, doctor Liang is nice, warm and patient to all those he treats, just like her own father.

Liang was born into a coal mining family in Chongqing. His father was injured numerous times in mining accidents before dying from a brain tumor when Liang was just 11. These early experiences encouraged Liang to become a medic.

Doctor Liang Yijian observes the CT photograph for one of his patients at No 3 Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan province. [Photo by Wang Bo/people.com.cn]

He graduated from the Chengdu Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1986 and has been an orthopedist for 30 years. 

"Out of every 1,000 Chinese, three suffer from curvature of the spine," Liang said. 

"Most of them live in rural and less developed areas with limited access to information. When they eventually seek treatment, they are often already very sick." 

Treatment for scoliosis is most successful when performed on juveniles. However, many of Liang's patients are aged 20 to 30. 

For Liang, it is his patients' desire to survive and lead a normal life that inspires him.

Li said the Chinese-Maltese friendship is a good example of nation-to-nation relationship building. 

She expressed gratitude to President Preca for support in spreading Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Malta. Li hoped both countries could enhance cooperation in both traditional and modern medicines.

President Preca thanked the Chinese government for dispatching TCM professionals to work in Malta, allowing Maltese people to benefit from TCM.

"The Mediterranean Chinese Medicine Center, co-built by China and Malta, treated nearly 10,000 patients in 2016. Many European patients also come here for treatment due to the fame of TCM," Preca said. 

The center has trained many TCM professionals for Malta and European nations. The two sides expect to build Malta into a bridge for spreading TCM to European countries.

During Li's visit, she signed a protocol of cooperation on TCM with the Maltese health minister and visited the Mediterranean Chinese Medicine Center.

The Mediterranean Chinese Medicine Center was built in the 1990s, and was the first TCM center in Europe. In the future, China and Malta will push forward for more cooperation in clinical services and medical staff training based on protocol.

Jiang Jiang, the Chinese Ambassador to Malta, and relevant officials from the NHFPC accompanied Li on the visit. 

Li Bin and Margaret Chan signed a memorandum of understanding for China and WHO health cooperation efforts based on the Belt and Road Initiative, focusing on health emergency response, contagious diseases prevention, and traditional medicine.

Li attended the term extension ceremony for the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Tuberculosis and HIV. She said the Chinese government has been paying great attention to tuberculosis and HIV prevention and control by improving relevant policies, increasing government investment, and cooperating with the international community.

Li also had a special meeting with Margaret Chan to exchange ideas on how to strengthen health cooperation and promote global health security.

Cui Li, vice-minister of the NHFPC, accompanied Li on the visit. 

Li said that 2016 was a creative year for China's overseas medical aid. In the past year, the NHFPC carried out overseas medical aid through supporting counterpart hospitals, implementing maternal and child health demonstration projects, and providing free cataract surgeries. 

The Chinese medical teams in foreign countries overcame difficulties in work and daily life to save numerous patients' lives, which gained the respect and praise from people in recipient countries.

The Chinese medical team in Malta introduced Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to European nations and set up the first TCM clinic. 

Li vowed that the top health authorities will strengthen support to overseas medical teams and she hoped Chinese medical teams can make new contributions to overseas medical aid and spread TCM to more foreign countries.

Jiang Jiang, Chinese Ambassador to Malta, and relevant officials from the NHFPC accompanied Li on the visit.

Authorities closed 280 live poultry trading and slaughtering venues in Suining city, southwest China's Sichuan Province, after four human H7N9 cases were reported in the city this year, according to the provincial health authorities.

Commerce officials in Suining have enhanced inspections to crack down on unlicensed poultry businesses.

The central province of Hubei has set up headquarters for the prevention and control of human H7N9 outbreak, according to the provincial Health and Family Planning Commission.

Hubei confirmed 19 human H7N9 cases from Jan.1 to Feb. 9, scattered across several cities. Two patients have been discharged from hospital after recovering. The province has dispatched 16 inspection teams to check on prevention efforts.

In Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, all live poultry markets have been suspended. The province has reported 24 H7N9 cases, including five fatalities, this year.

Eastern China's Zhejiang Province ordered all markets across the province to halt live poultry trading by 6 p.m. Saturday, over bird flu concerns.

Staff with the Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the province had entered a high season of bird flu outbreak.

In January alone, Zhejiang reported 35 infections of the H7N9 strain of bird flu. Contact with live poultry is the major source of infection, particularly in rural areas.

H7N9 is a bird flu strain first reported to have infected humans in China in March 2013. It is most likely to strike in winter and spring.

Beijing on Saturday reported a human H7N9 case. The patient is a 68-year-old man from Langfang city in neighboring Hebei Province.

Liaoning, Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Guangdong and Guizhou provinces have all reported human H7N9 cases this year.