Health services in remote areas need reinforcement

Since Ma Fuchang, a public health expert in Qinghai province, became a deputy to the National People's Congress in 2018, he has maintained a simple credo: "You go deep into the grassroots, obtain firsthand information and seek truths from facts."

Over the past year, Ma, head of the nutrition and health department at the Qinghai Center for Disease Prevention and Control, has visited more than 20 county-level regions across the vast, sparsely-populated province in Northwest China.

He examined local hospitals, disease control facilities, primary and middle schools, and other education institutes, as well as temporary settlements for residents affected by a powerful earthquake in December.

"Through on-site investigations, talks with local people and officials as well as reading materials, I strive to obtain a thorough understanding of the medical demands of the public," he said.

Ma, who carries out surveillance of chronic disease and nutrition, as well as teenagers' health monitoring and education at the provincial CDC, said that he has also made use of his professional background to set out proposals and bolster them with evidence and facts.

During the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Ma said that capabilities and infrastructure at various levels of CDC centers improved significantly.

However, problems such as a lack of disease control professionals and weaknesses in their professional skills still exist. Some workers have to juggle surveys of infectious diseases as well as prevention work on chronic diseases at the same time.

Ma said that in Qinghai, where many residents are scattered across remote, high-altitude outposts, the health service radius per capita stands about six to eight times the national average.

For example, Sangrima township in Guoluo Tibetan autonomous prefecture is more than 600 kilometers from the provincial capital of Xining, where Ma is based.

"Due to weak capacities of primary-level public health workers and less developed information systems there, the costs of providing standard public health services for local residents are very high," he said.

Ma said that this year he will propose strengthening and retaining disease control and prevention teams, especially in large but thinly populated places like Qinghai.

"Authorities are to consider factors such as natural and geological conditions, disease profiles and health service radius per capita, and assign more staff slots for the four provincial-level regions with an area of over 500,000 square kilometers," he said.

Those four regions are Qinghai and the Xizang, Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions.

Since 2018, Ma has put forward over 30 proposals using his on-the-ground findings and professional knowledge.

While emphasizing the importance of delving into the grassroots, Ma said that it is also important to keep learning.

"I should not only be familiar with my own area of expertise, but also expand my knowledge and abilities in various aspects of economic and social development and law so as to enhance my ability to make suggestions as an NPC deputy," he said.