Measures to shore up disease control and prevention capacities

The central government has unveiled a slew of policy measures to shore up China's disease control and prevention capacities as part of broader efforts to build a more resilient public health system.

The general office of the State Council published a guideline on promoting the high-quality development of disease control and prevention on Dec 26, rolling out a wide range of policies to reshape the nation's disease control and prevention mechanism.

The guideline stressed the importance of strengthening the core functions of disease control institutions, pledging to beef up the capacities of the China Center for Disease Control and prevention and provincial-level CDCs, especially in health emergency responses and global public health cooperation.

The disease control functions of healthcare institutions will be strengthened, with the plan calling for steps to boost levels of diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, testing, training, research and emergency response in infectious disease hospitals and infectious disease zones in public hospitals.

Zhang Guoxin, an official with the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, told a news briefing on Thursday that China has established a surveillance system for infectious disease and public health emergencies that covers 84,000 medical and health institutions across the nation.

It systematically expanded its monitoring capabilities for infectious diseases, including the development of 10 subsystems such as sentinel hospital surveillance, virus variant monitoring, and urban sewage monitoring, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The nation's monitoring network can enable the reporting of infectious diseases within four hours, compared with an average reporting time of five days previously, according to the administration.

"Monitoring and early warning are the first line of defense in effectively preventing and mitigating the risks of major infectious diseases," Zhang said.

He said the administration will continue to expand the monitoring channels for infectious diseases, widen the channels for public participation, and closely monitor global infectious disease trends to build up its epidemic prevention capacities.

He also highlighted the need to develop professionals who are more capable in laboratory pathogen detection, genome sequencing and biological information analysis.

The national guideline also stressed the need to strengthen the prevention and control of key infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis, saying that more work will be done to enhance vaccination and immunization efforts.

Monitoring and comprehensive intervention for common diseases and health risk factors among students, such as myopia and obesity, will also receive greater policy support.

The nation will step up international cooperation in disease control and prevention, including in the cross-border prevention and control of infectious diseases, information exchanges and the training of global public health professionals, the guideline said.