Nanfang Metropolis Daily:

Henan is a populous province with significant healthcare needs. What measures has Henan taken to make it easier and more affordable for people to access medical treatment ? What are the considerations for the next steps? Thank you.

Ma Jian:

Thank you for your question. As you mentioned, Henan is a populous province, and no issue is small when it comes to the livelihoods of 100 million people. Healthcare and medical treatment are especially issues that concern the people the most. In response, we adhere to a problem-oriented approach, systematically strengthening medical services at three levels to comprehensively improve the quality of healthcare.

First, we have exerted efforts to improve primary-level medical services to ensure that quality treatment services for minor ailments are accessible at community-level medical institutions. In recent years, Henan has focused on promoting the development of county-level medical consortia to enhance the primary-level medical institutions' capacity. We have established 172 medical consortia, achieving full coverage at the county level. We have implemented an initiative to reform and improve the rural medical and healthcare system, providing subsidies for the basic operation of 59,000 village clinics across the province, comprehensively enhancing the service capabilities of township and community-based health service centers. We have also ensured that "every township has a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinic" and "every village has TCM services," thus strengthening the foundation of primary-level medical and healthcare services.

Furthermore, we have focused on attracting high-end medical resources to make medical treatments of serious diseases convenient and cost-effective for patients within the province. Seizing the historic opportunity brought by the national initiative to expand high-quality medical resources to lower-tier cities, we have targeted medical branches with a large patient base and urgent demand, such as oncology, cardiovascular, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics. We have established 12 national and regional medical centers and introduced 392 new technologies and services, with 98 filling gaps in domestic and international markets. This has achieved our initial goal of ensuring that patients do not need to leave the province to seek treatment for serious illnesses. For example, since the establishment of the Beijing Children's Hospital Zhengzhou Branch, from 2019 to 2023, outpatient visits of children from Henan at Beijing Children's Hospital decreased by 58%, and inpatient admissions decreased by 66.8%. This has significantly reduced medical expenses for patients and greatly alleviated the burden on family members.

Third, we have cultivated top-notch medical expertise to develop a strong and technology-powered medical sector. Since last year, we have accelerated medical and technological innovation efforts, introducing a series of measures and integrating provincial resources to promote the reconstruction of the Henan Province Medical Sciences Academy and the integrated development of the Central Plains Medical Sciences City. We are comprehensively reshaping the medical scientific innovation system in Henan. At the same time, we are establishing a national traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) medical center and building the TCM Academy, as we are striving for new accomplishments in medical science and the biopharmaceutical industry.

We will always prioritize people's concerns, focusing on public health. We will accelerate the development of a hub for medical and health innovation, expand and promote accessibility of high-quality medical resources, and strive to ensure that people receive timely, affordable, and effective medical treatment when needed. In particular, we will leverage Henan's TCM resources, strengthen collaboration between TCM and Western medicine, and emphasize both prevention and treatment. Our goal is to minimize the occurrence of illnesses and keep people as healthy as possible.

Thank you.