Challenges, prospects

The improvements in the medical care sector are remarkable, but challenges remain.

The percentage of medical costs paid by the government is still low and medicine needs to be more affordable. In some places, especially rural areas, there are very long waiting lists for doctor or hospital appointments.

Some families have even fallen into poverty after spending all money in treating a serious disease.

In Xi'an, the capital city of Shannxi, a poll by the local government indicated that lower medicine and easier access to quality medical services were the top two New Year wishes.

To solve the price problem, "the most prominent in the sector," Zhan Jifu, head of the healthcare reform leading group in Sanming city, said authorities must cut the illegal profit chain between hospitals and drug suppliers and ban doctors prescribing expensive but unnecessary drugs.

During a visit to Jiangsu province in October 2014, President Xi Jinping vowed to allocate more medical resources at the community level and promote equal access to public health services that are safe, efficient, convenient and affordable.

The central authorities rolled out a plan last April to regulate the operation of public hospitals, mandating that they should not be profit-driven and only work for the public good.

Clean and nutritious food are also the key to the health of people. After a series of food scandals, such as recycled cooking coil, the top legislature in 2015 adopted an amendment to the Food Safety Law, featuring serious penalties for offenders.

The "healthy China" strategy is a long-term plan, and several supportive measures on medicine and hospitals should be put in place to push its persistent and thorough implementation, said Li Bin, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

She added that a healthy China does not mean more medical units or hospitals, but rather less patients, and more health and prevention publicity.

The central government should vigorously advocate healthy lifestyles and focus on strengthening prevention, echoed Wang Hufeng.