Xi's article on improving epidemic prevention and control to be published

BEIJING - An article by President Xi Jinping on improving law-based epidemic prevention and control, and the national public health emergency management system will be published Sunday on the Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Stressing that ensuring the safety and health of the people is a major task of the Party in governing the country, the article of Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said the mission should always be prioritized.

In addition to securing a victory in the current fight against the epidemic with scientific and targeted measures, the article called for greater efforts in strengthening areas of weakness and closing the loopholes exposed in the outbreak to improve the institutions and mechanisms for major epidemic prevention and control and the national public health emergency management system.

Noting that epidemic prevention and control was at a critical stage, the article stressed the utmost importance of carrying out the work in a law-based, scientific and orderly manner.

The more crucial the fight has become, the more important it is to stick to the rule of law in pushing forward epidemic prevention and control, said the article, adding that the law-based approach is needed to ensure the smooth prevention and control of the epidemic and maintain overall social stability.

Stressing the need to strengthen legislation on public health, the article called for the assessment of revision of laws and regulations on infectious disease prevention and control, as well as wildlife protection.

It also highlighted speeding up establishing a law on biosecurity.

Efforts should be made to reform and improve the disease prevention and control system to prevent minor illness from becoming major epidemics, strengthen the training of general practitioners, and improve a coordinated system for major public health risk analysis, evaluation, decision-making, and prevention and control, the article said.

The system of prevention, control and treatment of major epidemics should also be improved, the article noted, encouraging the application of digital technologies including big data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing in areas such as epidemic monitoring, virus source tracing, epidemic prevention and treatment, and resource allocation.

The article called for improving the medical insurance and medical aid systems for major diseases and a unified system for providing emergency response supplies.