Chronic diseases top killer in China

     BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Chronic¹ diseases, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes², are the leading cause of mortality in China, representing 85 percent of all deaths, said a senior health official.

    Kong Lingzhi, deputy director of the disease prevention and control bureau under the Ministry³ of Health, made the remarks on Saturday at the Forum⁴ of Prevention and Control of Chronic Disease.

    "China is facing a great challenge from chronic diseases, which has a serious impact on both the economy and society," said Kong.

    Each year, about 3.7 million people die before they reach 60 because of chronic diseases. There are currently 200 million hypertension patients and 90 million diabetics in China, official statistics show.

    To address the challenge, "the government is now drafting an inter-ministerial roadmap for chronic disease intervention⁵, which will set targets, define responsibilities and distribute guidelines for the prevention and control of chronic diseases," she said.

    The initiative aims to strengthen national and global monitoring and surveillance; scale up the implementation⁶ of evidence-based measures to reduce risk factors, such as tobacco use, an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use; and improve access to cost-effective healthcare to prevent complications, disabilities and premature⁷ death.

    But more importantly, the roadmap will help gain attention and support for preventing and controlling chronic diseases and place it high on government working agendas, Kong explained.

    The government has focused more on addressing instant health crises up to now and policy and funding support for chronic disease control and prevention was very limited, admitted Mao Qun'an, spokesman of the ministry.

    Given that chronic disease control requires a systematic⁸ approach, tasks such as public health education, training for medical workers (especially the grassroots ones) and policies encouraging doctors' involvement need to be carried out, he said.

    The ultimate goal is to prevent people from getting ill rather than treating diseases, he added.

    Lei Zhenglong, deputy director of the disease prevention and control bureau, said that to enhance the capacity of medical workers was now the top priority for the initiative.

    At present, effective disease prevention work usually contradicts the financial interests of clinical doctors, analysts⁹ said.

    A respiratory disease doctor surnamed He with the Peking University People's Hospital said that he came under pressure from the hospital authorities when the number of inpatients declined due to his efforts to inform his patients about chronic disease prevention.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

6 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

7 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

8 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。