Nation's health campaigns set example amid pandemic

On the occasion in December of the 70th anniversary of the establishing of the Patriotic Health Campaign, President Xi Jinping called for launching more targeted patriotic health campaigns to build a healthy China.

These campaigns have remained the hallmark of China's health system for the past 70 years and have revolutionized China's entire health system, which is now a model for the world.

The health campaigns, based on the latest scientific knowledge, aim to implement disease prevention measures through various initiatives and behaviors. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, emphasized the need to launch these critical health initiatives in a more targeted way, as the world faces another growing threat from COVID-19 mutations that are creating new challenges and require an innovative response.

The president also said that this will fortify a community line of defense for pandemic prevention and control, hence saving lives.

As a result of such robust health mechanisms built by the CPC in China, the world's second-largest economy has defeated several COVID-19 outbreaks. Over the years, through patriotic health campaigns, the CPC has focused on people's health, offered priority to prevention, effectively responded to infectious diseases and made substantial improvements in social health management.

The CPC initiated the Patriotic Health Campaign in the 1950s to promote a healthy lifestyle and behavior among citizens to improve community health. Following the "big health" concept, these campaigns have focused on addressing problems at their source and have achieved significant progress over the past 70 years.

The campaigns often feature slogans and public service announcements that aim to raise awareness about the importance of taking care of one's health. It is important to note that at the global level, the Patriotic Health Campaign in China was one of the first examples of multisectoral action for health, as it involved the collaboration of various government ministries and departments to improve citizens' health.

China has effectively used patriotic health campaigns in recent years to tackle specific health issues, including COVID-19. These campaigns have emphasized behavior that can help prevent the transmission of the virus, such as wearing masks, regularly washing hands and maintaining a distance from others.

China strived to save lives and ensured safety and protection through mass sanitization of population centers. When the world faced high mortality rates, China's remained low.

The Chinese government is aware of the need for continuous adjustments to the policy as well as innovative implementation mechanisms to ensure resiliency. There is another social indicator enabling China to sustain its resiliency against the shock of the pandemic — the social safety net whereby the Chinese government provides the masses with subsidies, material support, household items and health insurance.

Research and development in the health sciences enhanced China's capacity to contain the virus, because the nation was among the pioneers in developing the vaccines that have helped authorities achieve results. This gave China the confidence to set the dynamic zero-COVID policy goal for two years, focusing on the public and adjusting according to their needs. The joint public efforts enabled health and administrative authorities to keep social and economic conditions in line as the virus mutated.

Later, China shared its firsthand experience of handling COVID-19 with friendly nations, including Pakistan, where Chinese health officials shared scientific research and formed partnerships for the joint production of vaccines. Chinese health officials and workers, including doctors, nurses, scientists and technical experts, were sent to other countries, including Pakistan, to share experiences in reinforcing public health.

These efforts became global when more nations were willing to learn from Chinese expertise in epidemic management. The dynamic zero-COVID approach resulted in low mortality rates in other countries while reflecting each nation's realities and requirements. It is pertinent to acknowledge that mutation of the coronavirus continues, requiring constant monitoring and effective response.

Given the constant mutation, China has initiated a range of measures in several sectors, including the financial industry, to enable preemptive capacity in fighting the virus. These measures will enable China to sustain economic growth, support the global economy and reinforce the international health regimen.

China has emerged as an effective pandemic control model for the world to contain the virus and mitigate its impacts through changes that are customized to meet each nation's requirements.

The author is founder of the Friends of BRI Forum. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.