Xizang sees significant advances in healthcare

The health levels of residents in the Xizang autonomous region has reached an all-time high in history thanks to a combination of funds and medical aid projects dedicated to boosting the region's healthcare sector, authorities said on Friday.

Liu Kui, director of the National Health Commission's finance department, said that a variety of medical aid programs to help Xizang have been rolled out over the past three decades, including building partnerships between Xizang and other more developed regions and sending medical groups or renowned professionals from major hospitals to Xizang.

"Since 2012, more than 30 billion yuan ($4.14 billion) from central funds or funds from regions that have partnered with Xizang have been invested in boosting the region's healthcare development," he said during a news conference.

The average life expectancy in Xizang has increased by nearly six years over the past decade, and key health indicators such as the mortality rates for pregnant women and infants and toddlers have dropped precipitously.

Guo Luo, deputy director of Xizang's health commission, said that the region now has over 1,800 medical institutions with 22,000 hospital beds, compared with less than 1,200 hospitals with 5,600 beds about three decades ago.

"The number of physicians per 1,000 people also increased from 1.9 to 3.3," he said.

Local medical capabilities have also improved gradually as remote diagnosis and treatment platforms now cover all rural clinics.

As a result, more than 400 types of major illnesses, including pediatric leukemia and giant intracranial aneurysms, can be treated within Xizang and more than 2,000 types of severe conditions such as heart attacks and strokes can be treated locally.

In Driru county in Xizang's Nagchu prefecture, which is at an average altitude of over 4,000 meters, the county hospital used to have a few certified physicians and was unable to carry out normal blood tests or basic surgeries like the removal of an appendix.

"Thanks to continuous medical assistance, the hospital is now equipped with 224 medical staff and 29 different clinical apartments and is able to carry out some minimally invasive procedures," he said, adding that 12 local medical professionals have been nurtured and the ratio of patients being transferred outside the county among all patients has significantly dropped.

Meanwhile, Guo said that incidence rates of infectious diseases, such as echinococcosis and Kashin-Beck disease — which are endemic illnesses in Xizang — have fallen to a record low. Free cancer screening programs and free human papillomavirus vaccinations have been carried out.

"All key health indicators for residents in Xizang have reached a record high, and the proportion of out-of-pocket health expenditures to total expenses has fallen below 10 percent," he added.

Liu said that for the next step, authorities will focus on improving the capabilities of local hospitals, especially in their capacities in terms of urgently needed clinical specialties such as gynecology, obstetrics and emergency care.

wangxiaoyu@chinadaily.com.cn