Tibet sees progress in health, life expectancy

Average life expectancy in the Tibet autonomous region rose to 70.6 years at the end of 2019 from 35.5 years in the 1950s, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

In the interval between 2012 and 2019, average life expectancy in the region rose by 2.4 years.

Tibet has also witnessed significant improvements in key health indicators, including mortality of infants and children, maternal mortality and the hospital delivery rate over the last five years.

Infant mortality declined from 13.87 per 1,000 in 2016 to 8.9 per 1,000 at the end of last year. In the same period, maternal mortality dropped to 63.68 per 100,000 at the end of 2019 from about 110 per 100,000 in 2016.

A 66-year-old Tibetan man, Norbu Dorje, said he is happy to live in a society with better heath guarantees and a healthy living environment.

He now lives in a nursing home in Tibet's Nakartse county and he considers it to be his real home because of the attentive care and range of services he receives.

"The staff members here take good care of us. We are provided with nice meals every day. Our dorm is cleaned regularly. So we feel very comfortable living here," Norbu Dorje said, noting that the dorm is also equipped with a refrigerator, shower and central heating.

"I want to express my heartfelt thanks for the support of the government," he said. "I never dreamed I'd have such a happy life here in this center, and I think I no longer have to worry for my twilight years."

Phuntsok, 72, in Tashigang village of Nyingchi said he has enjoyed good health over the years thanks to the overall prosperity of society.

"I have access to healthy food and safe drinking water. I don't eat everything, which is a key to my health," he said, adding that staying happy is another key.

"We no longer have to worry about not having enough food, and we get enough time for physical exercise, which is also important to long life," he said.

Another key factor for longer life is better medical treatment, he said, adding that Tibetan people's awareness of disease prevention has been improving in recent decades.