Chinese Government Startled by COVID-19, Decides to Increase Medical Staff

Acknowledging Shortage of Medical Personnel Including Doctors and Nurses... Support for Talented Students in Medical Schools
Training Doctors and Nurses in Underdeveloped Medical Areas Such as Seobu

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] The Chinese government has decided to increase medical personnel in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After experiencing the COVID-19 crisis, it was determined that there is a shortage of medical personnel, and China plans to drastically reform its medical system.

According to the People's Daily on the 10th, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held a State Council executive meeting on the 9th, pointed out the shortage of public health and critical care medical personnel in China, and instructed to increase the number of doctors and nurses.

The Chinese government plans to provide various support measures such as tuition assistance to attract outstanding talents to medical schools. In China, excellent talents tend to flock more to science and technology fields such as engineering than to medical schools.

Additionally, a competency-based evaluation system will be introduced, with policies to give preferential treatment during recruitment and promotion.

Along with this, clinical trials at universities will be strengthened to further improve China's medical standards. Medical education cooperation among medical schools, disease prevention and control centers, and specialized infectious disease hospitals will also be promoted.

The Chinese government has especially decided to provide financial support to the western regions where the medical system is underdeveloped.

They aim to train doctors and nurses from the western regions to improve the quality of healthcare in those areas. Fields such as infectious diseases, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and anesthesiology are expected to be intensively developed, according to the People's Daily.

At the State Council executive meeting on the same day, measures to promote consumption were also discussed.

Premier Li said, "Consumption is an important driving force for economic development," and added, "We must encourage new business models based on digital technology (contactless consumption systems)."

He emphasized, "We need to establish consumption promotion measures utilizing 5th generation communication (5G), such as smart supermarkets, agricultural product supply chains applying information technology (IT), and innovations in mobile payments."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.