China boosts rural, urban healthcare with more doctors and mobile services

China's grassroots healthcare institutions now handle more than 50 percent of the country's total medical consultations, according to an official from the National Health Commission. Furthermore, over 90 percent of residents nationwide have access to nearby healthcare services within a 15-minute radius.

The number of grassroots healthcare institutions nationwide has grown from 970,000 to 1.04 million over the past five years.

"We have essentially ensured that healthcare institutions are in place in every township and village in rural areas, as well as every street and community in urban areas," said Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health Commission, at a news conference on Thursday.

To bridge healthcare gaps in remote and underdeveloped areas, including mountainous and island regions, mobile medical services are being provided. This includes telemedicine, internet-based healthcare consultations, and the dispatch of traveling medical teams, Jiao added.

Consistent efforts have been made to enhance the capability of primary healthcare professionals.

By the end of 2024, there were 2.078 million licensed doctors and assistant doctors in grassroots-level healthcare institutions, an increase of 542,000 from 2020. Moreover, the proportion of healthcare practitioners with college degrees or higher in township hospitals rose from 65 percent in 2020 to 77.4 percent in 2023, while in community health service centers, this figure increased from 81.4 percent in 2020 to 88.2 percent in 2023, according to Jiao.

"We are also promoting the gradual deployment of medical personnel to more localized health institutions. This includes moving doctors from public hospitals in cities to county-level ones, and encouraging county-level medical personnel to take long-term positions in township health centers and even village clinics," she said.

In the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, nearly all county- and township-level health institutions now have doctors from higher-level hospitals stationed year-round. "With the support of these doctors, annual outpatient and emergency visits at grassroots healthcare institutions have increased by 10.45 percent since the first year of the assistance project, and surgeries performed by county-level hospitals have increased by 7.05 percent. Complex procedures such as gastrointestinal, orthopedic, and cardiovascular interventions have grown by 44.82 percent," said Du Zhenzong, director of the region's health commission. "Many residents can now receive treatment for various conditions within the county."

Additionally, measures have been introduced to facilitate residents' access to medical services at the local level. Nationwide, 95 percent of community health service centers and township clinics can now provide long-term prescriptions of up to three months for patients with stable medication plans for chronic conditions, saving them the trouble of frequent trips to medical facilities, according to Jiao.

Most of these grassroots institutions also offer extended hours, holiday outpatient services, and weekend vaccination services. "For example, Beijing has fully implemented weekend vaccination at community health service centers. Especially during the current flu season, the city has made the operating hours for flu vaccinations widely available to the public, making it easier for residents to get vaccinated," she added.