Building a Sustainable & Healthy Luzhou City: Practice & Prospective
“From 2015 to 2017, the average life expectancy increased from 76.46 to 77.3. Just within 2 years, Luzhou has transferred from ‘the City of Liquor’ to ‘Healthy Luzhou City’ and the key step is this!” At the “Healthy City and Public Health” Session of the 8th U.S.-China Health Summit, the Vice Mayor of the People’s Government of Luzhou City, Sichuan Province, Ma Zonghui introduced Luzhou’s experience in building a healthy city. They have basically figured out Luzhou citizens’ health conditions via the free physical examination.
Ma Zongwei, Mayor, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province
"Building a Sustainable & Healthy Luzhou City: Practice & Prospective"
It used to be a common situation that “if a family member suffers from a disease, the family would suffer from poverty for generations” in some areas in Luzhou. Many people would not think about health issues until they are sick or unwell. This phenomenon of “valuing treatment but ignoring prevention” was prevalent. In order to change it and to build up a healthy city, Luzhou took a key action: free physical examination for all the citizens.
Since 2014, Luzhou has started spending efforts in promoting citizens’ health and have conducted free comprehensive physical examination for 5.6 million people with an investment of 565 million RMB. The physical examination is conducted for 5 age groups. People of 0-6, 7-17, and over 65 age groups receive physical examination once a year according to the state rules; people of 18-34 and 35-64 age groups receive the free examination every two years.
Physical examination items have also been set up scientifically. General physical examination items include routine blood test, liver function, blood lipid and so on. According to the characteristics and actual situations of each age group, B-mode ultrasound and endemic disease examination are added. In 2017, we added the genetic testing of neonatal hereditary deafness for new-born babies and HPV screening for women. In total, 112,000 people were newly diagnosed with hypertension and 32,000 with diabetes.
At the same time, a more important step is to establish health files for everyone. According to the basic requirement of "one person, one file; one family, one volume; one village, one book", the three-level health files for individuals, families and villages have been established. Each family is a unit and the results of physical examination and health guidance of each family members are bound into a volume, then the family health file is established. People's physical examination situation is established in the village as the community unit, and health status account is set up to form the health files of the village and community. At the same time of establishing hard-copies, the electronic health files for residents are also introduced. Everyone can check their personal health information on their mobile phone.
In addition, for people who are diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, severe mental disorders, high-risk chronic diseases and so on in the free examination and therefore need special cares, they will sign a contract with a family doctor to receive special management. By June 2018, Luzhou had set up more than 1,000 family doctor teams, providing key management services for 830,000 people and precise management services for 49,000 people.
Liu Yuanli, the Dean of School of Public Health, Peking Union Medical College and President of Chinese Aging Well Association, commented that Luzhou was the first city in China that carried out free health examination for all people in prefecture-level cities. A total of 5.6 million people received free health examinations and the health conditions of ordinary people were checked.
Now Luzhou is building an upgraded version of the national disease prevention and health preservation project. Ma Zonghui introduced that the Municipal Committee and the Municipal Government of Luzhou attached great importance to the public health; implemented the construction of “10 major projects” such as national fitness, food safety, medical and health service system improvement, quality reproduction, health culture and so on based on the further promotion of public disease prevention and health preservation; strived to provide a healthy environment, to construct a healthy society, to improve health service system, to develop a culture of health, and to continuously increase public health and well-being. Luzhou is determined to become the model of healthy city in the whole country by 2020.
Luzhou in the future will not be just a “city full of the intoxicating fragrance”, but also a “city full of healthy citizens”.
