China to build quality, integrated medical system: health official

BEIJING - China will strive to build an integrated medical-service system that provides high-quality services and is efficient in resource allocation and medical-facility management, a health official said on Thursday.

Starting this year, efforts will be made to improve public-health prevention and treatment capabilities, facilitate the high-quality development of public hospitals, strengthen health services for key populations and promote the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine, said Xu Shuqiang, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference in Beijing.

To further deepen medical reform, another key task is to balance medical resources and improve the tiered system of medical diagnosis and treatment, said Li Bin, deputy head of the NHC.

The reform of centralized procurement of drugs and medical consumables will also be advanced, said Wang Guodong, an official with the National Healthcare Security Administration.

He added that more varieties will be included in the centralized drug procurement system, to reduce the burden on people while giving consideration to the reasonable profits of enterprises.

As part of this year's reform, efforts will also be made to promote nationwide the successful medical reform experience gained in the city of Sanming in east China's Fujian Province, as well as to build up the country's public-health system under regular epidemic control, according to Li.