The anti-epidemic hero assumed the new National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention, and the adjustment of the disease control system "breaks"?

Reporter | Yuan Yiming

Edit | Xie Xin

On April 28, the official website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced the appointment and removal of personnel, stating that the State Council appointed Wang Hesheng as director of the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention, and Chang Jile, Shen Hongbing, and Sun Yang as deputy directors of the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention
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According to information on the official website of the National Health Commission, Wang Hesheng has been the deputy director and member of the Party group of the National Health and Family Planning Commission since August 2016; in October 2016, he has been the deputy director and member of the Party group of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, and the director of the State Council’s Medical Reform Office; 2018 Served as deputy director of the National Health Commission and member of the Party Leadership Group in March of 2003
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In February 2020, when the epidemic in Hubei was the most serious, Wang Hesheng concurrently served as the director of the Hubei Provincial Health Commission
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Previously, the departments responsible for disease prevention and control were the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention under the National Health Commission and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to as China CDC)
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Among them, the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention was established in 2006 at the level of department and bureau.

The CDC is a public welfare institution sponsored by the government to implement national disease prevention and control and public health technology management and services
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According to the official website of CDC, its responsibilities are to carry out disease prevention and control, emergency response to public health emergencies, organize the formulation of national public health technical programs and guidelines, carry out infectious diseases, chronic diseases, occupational diseases, endemic diseases, public health emergencies and suspected vaccinations.

In 1983, the former Ministry of Health was approved by the State Council to establish the China Preventive Medicine Center; in 1986, the China Preventive Medicine Center was renamed the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine; in 2002, it was in the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, the Industrial Hygiene Laboratory of the Ministry of Health, and the Chinese Health Education Research Institute.
On the basis of the above, the Center for Disease Control was established
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It seems that the above-mentioned two departments have covered all aspects of the disease prevention and control system.
In fact, because the two departments, especially the central disease control, have "not high administrative status", there has been a long-standing call for the establishment of an independent and higher-level national disease prevention and control bureau
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Under the test of the new crown epidemic, the appeals of experts and administrative personnel to the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention are even more concentrated

In February 2020, Zhong Nanshan publicly stated that the CDC’s status is too low and that it is only a technical department and has not received enough attention in the country
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Therefore, Zhong Nanshan called for improving the status of CDC and granting it certain administrative powers

In May 2020, Li Liming of the School of Public Health of Peking University and Li Ying of Harbin Medical University and others proposed to establish a disease prevention and control bureau outside the Health Commission
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Implement vertical management from top to bottom in four levels: country-province (autonomous region, municipality)-city-district (county)

In September 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping mentioned in the article "Building a Strong Public Health System to Provide a Strong Guarantee for People’s Health" that although China’s public health system has played an important role in the fight against COVID-19, it has also been exposed.
Problems such as weak capacity, inactive mechanisms, insufficient motivation, and inadequate integration of prevention and treatment have emerged
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Therefore, Xi Jinping proposed to intensify reforms, optimize and improve the function setting of disease prevention and control institutions, and strengthen the capacity building of national-level disease prevention and control institutions

In addition, during the national "two sessions" in 2020, Xie Shuangcheng, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Democratic Progressive Committee, also proposed to establish the National Disease Prevention and Control Administration and make it an independent and authoritative administrative management in charge of disease prevention and control.
Institutions to change the status quo of focusing on medical care and neglecting disease control
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At the same time, Gao Fu, director of CDC, also stated that the CDC, as the main force in the prevention and control of the epidemic, failed to fully play its role in the early warning and monitoring of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, epidemiological investigation, and the proposal and implementation of prevention and control measures.

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This is because disease control experts can only exercise advice and cannot participate in decision-making in depth; there is only a relationship between guidance and guidance between the upper and lower levels of disease control institutions, and it is difficult to form an effective joint force when dealing with the epidemic; the prevention of disease control institutions and medical institutions The coordination mechanism for the division of labor for control and treatment is not perfect; the administrative functions of disease control are scattered, and the functions of the national health administrative department such as disease control and emergency are scattered in the disease control bureau, medical administration and hospital management bureau, emergency office and other departments.

       The specific functional authority of the country’s disease prevention and control this time, and how the original two major disease control institutions will be integrated in the future, still await the release of more official information later