The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China points out the direction of progress and depicts the grand blueprint for securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and striving for the great success of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a new era. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, once pointed out that no national health, no overall well-off society. As a moderately prosperous society in all respects is drawing near in China, the issue of national health is becoming much more important and urgent.
During the period of the 12th Five-Year Plan, especially since the 18th NCCPC, great achievements have been made in national health and hygiene services. In the year of 2015, the average life expectancy of Chinese people has risen to 76.34 years old; the infant mortality rate has reduced to 8.1‰; the mortality rate of children under 5 years has reduced to 10.7‰, the maternal mortality rate has reduced to 20.1 per 100,000 people, achieving the 12th Five-Year plan and the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations ahead of schedule. Medical care has covered more than 95% of the population. Moreover, the problems of inadequate and over-expensive medical services have been effectively alleviated. Furthermore, great progress has been made in the prevention and control of major diseases: the infection rate of chronic HBV in children under 5 years of age has reduced to less than 1%; the AIDS epidemic has been kept in a low prevalence; remarkable achievements have been made in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, as a total of 265 demonstration plots have been established for the management of over 86 million people suffering from high blood pressure and over 24 million diabetics; the emergency work of medical and health services is more effective, successfully settling down such public health emergencies as food safety, SARS, avian influenza, etc; breakthroughs have been made in scientific and technological innovation ability, laying a firm foundation for a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
However, the development of health and hygiene services is still unbalanced and inadequate, failing to live up with people's expectations. At present, coronary heart disease and other critical chronic diseases are still of high incidence. Cancer, AIDS and other global medical difficulties have not embraced a major breakthrough. Hidden dangers and risks caused by Ebola, avian influenza and other public health security incidents are here to stay. For instance, about 290 million people are suffering from cardiovascular in China, which is the main cause of death among urban and rural residents. Another example is the case of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This disease, without appropriate control, will massively increase the risk of liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. However, it has been neglected for a long time. Therefore, it is necessary and urgent to adhere to the “prevention of chronic diseases” and "preventive treatment of disease" by attaching importance to and enhancing the research on the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and metabolic diseases. At the same time, industrialization, population aging, the transformation of ecological environment and people's lifestyle have also brought a series of new challenges for the maintenance and promotion of health. Moreover, the contradiction between inadequate overall supply of health services and the growing demand still sticks out. The progress in the field of health should be coordinated with the economic and social development. The major and long-term issues related to health ought to be solved at the central strategic level.
A new era launches a new journey with a new strategy. The party and the state proceed from reality and have made a series of major deployments in order to further promote the development of medical and health services, as well as to better serve and ensure people's health -- In October 2015, for the first time, the party proposed promoting the construction of a Healthy China in the fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC; In October 2016, the central committee and the state council issued the “Healthy China 2030 Planning Outline”, which makes overall arrangements for the construction; In October 2017, the 19th NCCPC put forward the implementation of Healthy China Strategy. All these decisions and deployments have brought unprecedented opportunities for the development of medical and health services.
A new strategy articulates a new task and calls for a new mission. The report presented to the 19th NCCPC points out that innovation is the primary engine of development, and also the strategic support for a modern economic system. Basic medical research and technology innovation is the crucial support and headstream to improve the medical level and health services. In the coming 5 to 10 years, China will accelerate the pace of medical research and bio-industry innovation. Also, efforts will be made to enhance the disease prevention and management and to promote the development of WIT120 concerning cardiovascular metabolic diseases and other major chronic diseases. Meanwhile, China will vigorously promote the construction of resource platform for biological sample and big data of health care. Other measures include developing omics technology for the medical care of precision and individualization, developing new vaccine to improve the ability of prevention and control of emergency infectious diseases, and promoting the development of regenerative medicine, new pharmaceutical preparations and high-end medical equipment.
In the new era of rapidly developing science and technology, fast lifting medical level and comprehensive promotion of "Healthy China", the broad masses of people working for medical science and technology should remain true to our original aspiration and keep our mission firmly in mind, dedicating to the scientific research and health cause. We should target at frontier areas of science and technology in the world, strive to make major breakthroughs in pioneering basic research and publish papers in international top-notch journals. Also, people's health should be of our main concern. We ought to the application of the research findings to clinical practice and effectively tackle the health issues of the public. Our wisdom and strength are to be contributed to the construction of a Healthy China, so as to achieve the Two Centenary Goals and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
(Rewritten by Ge Chao, edited by Shen Yuxi, Hu Sijia)
