http://www.bjreview.com AUGUST 15, 2019 BEIJING REVIEW 13

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at at least 12 varieties of food per

day, and 25 per week. Consume at

least 500 grams of vegetables and

fruits daily, but no more than 25

grams of added sugar, 30 grams of

edible oils and 5 grams of salt. Take 6,000-

10,000 steps every day, and keep your

waistline under 85 cm for men and under 80

cm for women.

These are some of the health tips

provided in the Healthy China Action Plan

for 2019-30, a document released by the

State Council on July 15. The plan states

that everyone should take primary re-

sponsibility for their own health.

The action plan was one of the three doc-

uments released by the Chinese Government

to implement the Healthy China Initiative,

which was elaborated in a central govern-

ment blueprint titled Healthy China 2030

promulgated in 2016. It was subsequently

made a national strategy at the 19th National

Congress of the Communist Party of China

(CPC) in October 2017.

The initiative is an important decision by

the CPC Central Committee and the State

Council to enhance people’s happiness and

health and promote national renewal, said

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Health Commission at the press conference

for the release of the three documents.

Strategic shifts

The central piece of the three documents,

the guideline to implement the Healthy

China Initiative, proposes 15 campaigns

to promote healthy lifestyles and health at

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diseases and set health targets.

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health concerns, such as mental health,

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The second document, released by the

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that the Healthy China Initiative Promotion

Committee, comprised of an advisory body

and special action groups, should be set up

for pushing forward the initiative and evalu-

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health indicators will serve as yardsticks for

measuring the performance of various Party

and government organizations and their

leaders.

The third document, the Healthy China

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and tasks for each campaign, as well as the

responsibilities of various stakeholders in-

cluding individuals, families, society and the

government.

Yu said that in comparison to previous

efforts to boost health, these campaigns

signal a shift in the focus of health work

from treating diseases to promoting health,

and a shift from counting mainly on medical

institutions to encouraging public participa-

tion and action so that people can shoulder

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health.

In recent decades, China has made great

progress in improving people’s health, Yu

said, adding that in 2018, the average life ex-

pectancy in China was improved to 77 years

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than the average level of medium- to high-

income countries.

However, with the acceleration of in-

dustrialization, urbanization and population

aging, the disease spectrum of Chinese

residents is changing, and people are con-

fronting new health problems, Yu said.

On the one hand, hepatitis, tuberculosis,

and occupational and endemic diseases can-

not be neglected, and the prevention and

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AIDS is still challenging, he said.

But on the other hand, relatively poor

health knowledge and unhealthy lifestyles,

which include smoking, alcohol abuse, lack

of exercise and an unbalanced diet, have

resulted in increasingly salient health prob-

lems, especially chronic diseases such as

cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases,

cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and dia-

betes, he pointed out.

Chronic diseases have caused 88 per-

cent of the total deaths in China and incurred

more than 70 percent of the total burden of

diseases, Yu noted.

Unhealthy lifestyles can be changed

and main health risk factors are preventable

and controllable, he said. Personal behaviors

and lifestyles can affect 60 percent of a per-

son’s health, according to the World Health

Organization.

The health system is changing its think-

ing and methods, Yu said. While continuing

to deepen medical reform, increasing access

to medical treatment and lowering costs,

the government will vigorously promote the

transformation from “centering on the treat-

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