China to accelerate improvement of monitoring system for infectious disease

BEIJING -- China will accelerate the improvement of the monitoring system for infectious disease and public health emergencies while strengthening the integration of public health information, a health official said Wednesday.

Some achievements have been made in using IT in healthcare, but weaknesses and deficiencies have also been exposed by the COVID-19 epidemic, said Mao Qun'an, an official with the National Health Commission.

Many difficulties remain in the management system, infrastructure, and applications on information sharing, which need to be studied and resolved, he added.

An integrated platform with multiple channels for early warning and monitoring of infectious diseases at the national and provincial levels will be set up, Mao said, emphasizing developing new mechanisms for collaboration between medical institutions and disease prevention agencies and a smart warning mechanism with multiple triggers.