China intensifies efforts to eradicate tuberculosis
As a country facing huge challenges posed by tuberculosis (TB), China is accelerating its efforts to eliminate the disease domestically while making active contributions to the global anti-TB fight.
According to data from the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, the incidence and mortality rates of TB in China have fallen by 30 percent since 2012.
Since 2012, China has successfully identified and treated approximately 7.85 million cases of pulmonary TB, maintaining a treatment success rate above 90 percent and a relatively low mortality rate, the administration said.
Behind these encouraging figures is a cumulative investment of over 10 billion yuan (about 1.39 billion U.S. dollars) from China's central government into special funds for TB prevention and control, noted Zhao Yanlin, head of the Center for Tuberculosis Prevention and Control under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC).
To ease the financial burden on TB patients, some local medical insurance bureaus in China have included TB into the category of outpatient chronic and special diseases, which offers higher reimbursement rates and caps than ordinary outpatient diseases, with reimbursement rates exceeding 90 percent.
In Jiangsu Province, thanks to the policy to use certain innovative drugs free-of-charge in medical treatment, the treatment success rate for drug-resistant TB cases has risen to 85.6 percent, said Zhu Limei, an institute director under the province's center for disease control and prevention.
Beyond financial and policy support, China is also committed to innovation, aiming to further enhance TB prevention and treatment.
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