Public has its own part to play for healthy nation

The State Council, China's Cabinet, recently issued a guideline document to launch the 2019-30 Healthy China Program Action, listing a series of special actions to implement comprehensive health intervention, care for the health of key groups and promote prevention and control of major diseases. The Southern Metropolis Daily comments:

Internationally, the health level of a country's residents is mainly measured by life expectancy, maternal mortality and infant mortality. According to the 2018 statistical bulletin published by the top health authorities, the health level of Chinese residents has improved based on these three indicators. The average life expectancy of residents has increased from 76.7 years in 2017 to 77.0 years in 2018, with the maternal mortality rate dropping from 19.6 to 18.3 deaths per 100,000 cases, and the infant mortality rate decreasing from 6.8 to 6.1 deaths per 1,000 newborns.

However, the three indicators only measure the current overall health level of Chinese residents. With the acceleration of industrialization, urbanization and the aging of the population, people's lifestyles and disease spectrum have also undergone changes. For example, such chronic non-communicable diseases as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases have become a major threat to residents' health, causing 88 percent of China's total deaths and 70 percent of its total medical expenses. According to the The Lancet, the international medical journal, strokes have now replaced cancers as the leading killer in China, because they are closely related to high blood pressure, smoking, drinking and high sodium intake.

That chronic diseases and sub-health have become new health threats means that the marginal effects obtained by relying on medical technology to improve people's health as was the case in the past are decreasing, and that if we want to further improve resident's health level, we should not just rely on medical treatment, but should intervene in advance to improve their health through disease prevention awareness.

Thus, the latest guideline document issued by the State Council, which says disease prevention is the most economical and effective health boosting means is undoubtedly in line with the reality of Chinese society since it strengthens disease prevention and control. It also rolls out taxation and pricing measures to control smoking, another big health threat to Chinese people.

Certainly, a healthy China should not depend on the pure action and fiscal input from the government, and better health awareness among the public is also desperately needed.