Rural residents better off, better access to healthcare

China has lifted 10 million families impoverished due to illness or disease out of poverty over the past decade, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.

He Jinguo, director of the commission's Department of Finance and head of its Rural Vitalization Office, said during a news conference that the shortage of rural medical facilities and healthcare workers have been addressed, and rural residents are now able to access treatment for most common and chronic illnesses. 

Currently, each county formerly designated as impoverished has at least one public hospital, he said, adding that an online system dedicated to monitoring poor patients has been set up, benefiting more than 20 million people. 

The commission will continue to consolidate anti-poverty outcomes and further improve capability at rural clinics, he said.