China's public health service capability improves steadily: white paper

BEIJING -- A white paper issued by China's State Council Information Office on Friday said China's public health service capability has been improving steadily.

According to the white paper, titled "Development of China's Public Health as an Essential Element of Human Rights," the coverage of basic public health services in China has been further expanded and the scope of beneficiaries has expanded steadily.

The government has extended free vaccinations from children only to adults and expanded basic public health services to 12 categories that span a person's life circle, including citizens' health archives and management, it said.

The paper also hailed China's continuously improved ability to control epidemic diseases in establishing the world's largest online direct reporting system for notifiable epidemic diseases and public health emergencies.

The ability to quickly respond to public health emergencies has been strengthened in a comprehensive way, with the legal system for emergency response taking initial shape and the response mechanism optimized, said the paper.

In 2014, China's core public health emergency response capacity achieved 91.5 percent of the requirements of the International Health Regulations, better than the world's average of 70 percent, according to the paper.