Disease costs 13% of China's GDP: Vice minister

NANNING - The economic burden of disease currently consumes about 13 percent of China's gross domestic product (GDP), Vice Minister of Health Wang Guoqiang said Friday.

China is currently facing "dual disease burdens," or health problems usually found in a developed country as well as those typical in a developing economy, Wang said at a conference on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) held in the country's southwest Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The severe situation could be attributed to rapid globalization, industrialization, and urbanization, an aging population and changes in the lifestyles of Chinese people, Wang said.

Wang said the trends have exposed the Chinese to deteriorating food and drinking water safety, workplace safety and environmental problems, which have become major issues threatening the nation's health.

More than 700 million of China's working population are currently in a state of sub-health or have chronic diseases, according to Wang.

Many contagious and endemic diseases also plague China's remote and poverty-ridden areas, where medical resources have lagged behind.

Wang said China should boost advances in TCM research, education, culture and industrialization, and apply TCM advances in medical treatment and health care in order to improve the overall health of the Chinese population.