China issues guidelines for prevention, treatment of diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases

BEIJING -- China on Monday released two guidelines for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases from 2024 to 2030.

By 2030, a diabetes prevention and treatment system will enable over 60 percent of residents aged 18 and above to be aware of the disease. By then, the coverage rate of standardized management services for type 2 diabetes patients at the primary level will exceed 70 percent, according to the documents released by multiple departments including the National Health Commission (NHC).

By 2030, the system for the prevention and control of chronic respiratory diseases will be further refined, with the mortality rate of chronic respiratory diseases among people aged 70 and under dropping to 8.1 per 100,000 and below.

With the development of the economy and society, chronic diseases have become an important factor hindering the improvement of healthy life expectancy in China, according to the NHC.

Data shows that over 80 percent of deaths in China were caused by major chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.

Currently, China has over 30 million diabetic patients aged 65 and above, while the number of patients with chronic respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma has reached around 100 million, according to the NHC.

In recent years, China has established the world's largest disease and health risk surveillance network, and the premature mortality rate of major chronic diseases has decreased from 18.5 percent in 2015 to 15.3 percent in 2021.