China plans to overhaul health system, but better communication with public is off the radar
- White paper highlights five areas for reform, including better warning systems, but critics say public disclosure is needed to make this work
- Head of National Health Commission said system was ‘generally effective’ during coronavirus outbreak, but some areas needed strengthening
China has identified five areas where its public health system needs to be improved after the coronavirus outbreak, but critics say it has failed to address the need to keep the public informed.
“China’s health care system was generally effective in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, but it also showed some problems and flaws,” Ma Xiaowei, director of the National Health Commission, told a press briefing to introduce its 37,000-word white paper on the pandemic on Sunday.
Ma identified five areas for improvement, including more investment in the public health system, giving the Centres for Disease Control more powers, a public health network to link hospitals to the CDC, a better epidemic monitoring and warning system and fostering medical talent.
Ma said China would strengthen and improve its warning system by improving the emergency plan and building classified health teams to detect, report, warn and respond to major public health events.
But Li Dun, a professor and the head of the experts network at Tsinghua University’s Centre for the Study of Contemporary China, said better communication should also be included in the proposed reforms.