Li Jinbin, Secretary of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, emphasized at the Provincial Conference on Public Health System Development and Traditional Chinese Medicine that efforts should be made to transform Anhui from a major province in TCM into a leading province in TCM.

On the afternoon of January 4, the Anhui Provincial Conference on Public Health System Development and Traditional Chinese Medicine was held in Hefei. Li Jinbin, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, attended the conference and delivered a speech. He emphasized the need to thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, building a robust public health system, and accelerating the modernization and industrialization of traditional Chinese medicine, as well as the spirit of his important remarks and instructions during his inspection tour of Anhui. Guided by the initiative to build a Healthy Anhui, driven by deepening reform, supported by breakthroughs in scientific and technological innovation, and with a focus on strengthening basic public health services at the grassroots level, we will promote the deep integration of public health systems across the Yangtze River Delta region, build a strong public health system, develop Anhui into a leading province in traditional Chinese medicine, and provide all-round, life-cycle health protection for the people, thereby laying a solid health foundation for accelerating the construction of a modern and beautiful Anhui in the new stage.

On the afternoon of January 4, the Provincial Conference on Public Health System Development and Traditional Chinese Medicine was held in Hefei. Photo by reporter Xu Guokang.

Li Guoying, Deputy Secretary of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and Governor of the province, presided over the meeting. Deng Xiangyang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Executive Vice Governor, provided an interpretation of the “Opinions on Strengthening the Public Health System” and the “Specific Measures for Promoting the Inheritance, Innovation, and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine.” Guo Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee’s Secretariat, along with Vice Governors Zhou Xian’an and Zhang Xi, also attended the meeting.

Li Jinbin pointed out that the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core attaches great importance to health and wellness, particularly since the outbreak of the pandemic. General Secretary Xi Jinping has delivered important speeches and issued significant instructions on numerous occasions, providing the fundamental guiding principles for strengthening the public health system and promoting the inheritance, innovation, and development of traditional Chinese medicine. It is imperative to enhance our “four consciousnesses,” fortify our “four confidences,” and ensure “two safeguards”; to deeply recognize that strengthening the public health system and advancing the inheritance, innovation, and development of traditional Chinese medicine are intrinsic requirements for upholding the Party’s fundamental purpose and safeguarding the health of the people, essential guarantees for preventing major risks and maintaining public safety, powerful levers for establishing a new development paradigm and promoting high-quality development, and solid support for serving the overarching goal of building a Healthy China and advancing the construction of a modern, beautiful Anhui in the new stage—thereby ensuring that our thinking and actions are fully aligned with the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speeches and instructions.

Li Jinbin emphasized the need to steadfastly place people’s health at the forefront of development strategy, promptly address shortcomings, close loopholes, and strengthen weak areas, and accelerate the establishment of a robust public health system. It is essential to prioritize more precise and effective prevention by swiftly improving the disease prevention and control system, undertaking a comprehensive restructuring of disease control institutions, establishing sound coordination mechanisms between these institutions and urban and rural communities, and implementing routine epidemic prevention and control measures to ensure that there are no large-scale imported cases or resurgences. We must put the people first and life above all else by promptly refining the system for treating major epidemics, bolstering capacity in the treatment of infectious diseases, strengthening disciplines such as infectious diseases, respiratory medicine, and critical care, advancing the construction of national medical centers and regional medical centers, and improving systems for medical insurance and assistance for major illnesses. To fully implement the “four earlies” principle, we must promptly improve the public health emergency management system by establishing leading bodies for the response to major infectious disease outbreaks and sudden public health emergencies, putting in place an intelligent, multi-point early-warning mechanism, optimizing the capacity assurance and regional distribution of critical emergency supplies, and ensuring seamless integration of infrastructure to facilitate the transition between peacetime and wartime operations. We must make full use of powerful tools by promptly perfecting the public health research and innovation system, leveraging the province’s framework for tackling key scientific and technological challenges, planning and building public health technology support platforms, accelerating the establishment of emergency response mechanisms for urgent research, and actively conducting research on priority technologies and promoting their application. Finally, we must govern and act in accordance with the law by promptly improving the public health legal and regulatory framework, strengthening law enforcement mechanisms for epidemic prevention and control, and raising public awareness of the importance of knowing, understanding, observing, protecting, and applying the law, as well as of public health risk prevention and control.

Li Jinbin pointed out that we must effectively inherit, develop, and utilize traditional Chinese medicine; implement a special campaign to promote the inheritance, innovation, and development of TCM; and propel major TCM provinces to transform into leading TCM provinces. To achieve this, we need to build a high ground for TCM medical services by leveraging provincial-level TCM institutions as the flagship, strengthening grassroots healthcare facilities as the foundation, and invigorating health-service networks as the vital channels, thereby accelerating the refinement of a TCM service system that integrates preventive care, disease treatment, rehabilitation, and wellness. We should also establish a high ground for the modern TCM industry by thoroughly implementing a brand strategy, using the development of modern TCM industrial clusters as the driving force, promoting the integrated development of TCM with the internet, tourism, fitness and leisure, food, and other sectors, cultivating a number of competitive “Wan Medicine” enterprises, and fostering a group of major TCM products each with an output value exceeding RMB 100 million. Furthermore, we must create a high ground for TCM research by pooling superior resources to make breakthroughs in key areas such as the R&D of time-honored classic prescriptions and the creation of new drugs, striving to produce a batch of innovative achievements that are distinctive to Anhui, represent the national standard, and wield international influence. Finally, we should build a high ground for TCM culture by advancing the creative transformation and innovative development of the “North Hua Tuo, South Xin’an” tradition—promoting TCM culture through faithful inheritance without rigid adherence to the past, and popularizing TCM health concepts through innovation without losing sight of its core principles.

Li Jinbin emphasized that people’s health is both a matter of people’s livelihood and a socio-political issue. It is essential to adopt a holistic, coordinated approach: Party committees and governments at all levels must place the development of the public health system and the work related to traditional Chinese medicine high on their agendas, with principal officials personally overseeing these efforts; and all relevant departments must integrate health considerations into all policies. We must focus on addressing weak links by establishing a stable mechanism for funding public health initiatives, strengthening capacity-building for grassroots prevention and control, and reinforcing staffing at public hospitals and primary-level medical and health institutions. Moreover, we should champion new trends by deepening and expanding the Patriotic Health Campaign, advancing environmental improvement in both urban and rural areas, promoting civilized, healthy, and eco-friendly lifestyles, and continuously opening up new prospects for the reform and development of the province’s health sector, so as to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China with outstanding achievements.

While presiding over the meeting, Li Guoying emphasized the need to stay firmly focused on the set development goals, formulate concrete projects, and make concerted efforts to strengthen monitoring and early warning systems, reform institutional mechanisms, and consolidate grassroots foundations, thereby accelerating the establishment of a robust public health system. He also called for vigorous implementation of the special campaign to promote the inheritance, innovation, and development of traditional Chinese medicine, with a view to optimizing the cultivation of medicinal herbs, bolstering the TCM industry, and invigorating the TCM commerce sector, thus advancing the modernization and industrialization of TCM. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of assigning clear responsibilities, introducing innovative policies and measures, strengthening performance assessment and accountability, continuously enhancing the health and well-being of the people, comprehensively elevating the level of Healthy Anhui initiatives, and making new and greater contributions to supporting the establishment of a new development paradigm and building a modern, prosperous Anhui in the new stage.

The meeting was held via videoconference. During the session, five organizations—including the Provincial Health Commission, the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Provincial Medical Security Bureau, Bozhou City, and the First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China—delivered exchange speeches. Leading officials from relevant provincial-level departments, universities, provincial hospitals, and medical and health institutions, as well as representatives of National Masters of Traditional Chinese Medicine, nationally renowned TCM physicians, and TCM experts, along with representatives of the medical teams that provided assistance to Hubei, attended the meeting at the main venue. Sub-venues were set up in prefecture-level cities and counties (county-level cities and districts) across the province.