Medicine and Public Health in China Today

SINCE CHINA is a great country with a population of more than 600 million and a territory as big as the United States, its accomplishments in medicine and public health during the last 10 years are worthy of study. To cope with the demand of national industrialization and reconstruction, much attention has been paid to public health and medicine in an effort to prevent disease and promote health and thus increase productivity. Since public health practice is closely related to political systems and governmental structures, in addition to indicating actual achievements, it serves as an indirect reflection of the political and socioeconomic status of present-day China. The main sources of the information in this article are various medical and public health journals published in Chinese and English during the past 10 years. The Chinese Medical Journal of the Chinese Medical Association has a complete English edition. Also, many journals of the various medical specialties print English abstracts. English translations of scattered articles from original Chinese medical publications have been published by the U.S. Department of Commerce in the past 2 years. They are valuable to scientists interested in the details of research in specific fields. It is the primary intention of the author to evaluate critically achievements in medicine and public health in China during the past decade rather than review the literature. Also, I will emphasize achievements and new developments unfamiliar to the Western World and the future trends of medicine and public health in China. Most Chinese and English language publications issued in China have been reviewed as well as reports from nonChinese sources.