Scientific innovation is the priority and should be at the core of national health reform, according to a senior health official, citing a latest health reform instruction.

For the first time, according to Qin Huaijin, the science, technology, and education chief of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, scientific innovation is highlighted in the national reform efforts.

Qin said that scientific innovation in the health sector, in the spirit of the instruction, should focus on the health of people.

All the institutional and mechanism reforms should meet demands and solve problems, according to Qin, adding that scientific innovation and the cause of national health should be merged in an all-around manner.

Talented professionals, read the instruction, are the top resource in this new wave of innovation. Medical and health organizations should also play a leading role in innovating new additions to the system.

The instruction stressed the important role of institutes of higher education, scientific research institutions, and enterprises in the innovative drive.

Medical and health organizations, and especially the staff with them, are an indispensable part of the innovation system, said the instruction.