BEIJING - China will train 8,000 doctors in rural areas to prevent and treat diabetes, covering 279 counties in nine provinces, the Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS) under the Chinese Medical Association said Friday.

The year-long program will allow doctors to receive both face-to-face and remote online training in the provinces of Jiangsu, Hebei, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Shandong and Henan, the CDS said.

A CDS survey indicated that China has more than 40 million diabetes patients in rural areas, similar to the number found in urban areas.

However, nearly 70 percent of rural patients are not even aware that they have the disease because of the poor quality of rural medical care, the survey said.

Ji Linong, director of the CDS, said the training program is aimed at improving the knowledge and skills of rural doctors for the purpose of standardizing diabetes prevention and treatment.

Diabetes specialists from the CDS will train the counties' most highly qualified doctors, who will then pass on their knowledge to clinical doctors through training courses and seminars, Ji said.