Li Bin, minister of China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission, who took part in the World Health Assembly, on May 18, in Geneva, Switzerland, told the gathering that China supports the World Health Organization (WHO) in setting up an emergency response team and fund for disasters and is ready to take part in any global health emergency actions.

Li went on to say that China supports health system building and health safety as part of the “Sustainable Development Goal of 2030” and that the Chinese government has increased its work on an health emergency system that reaches international standards and has set up a prevention and control system that involves 20 departments for health emergencies, and the world’s largest direct reporting network for contagious diseases and public health emergencies, cutting the average reporting time to 4 hours.

She noted that it has a notification connection with the WHO and neighboring countries and 36 national teams and 20,000 local teams for health emergencies, which have done at least 120 emergency rescue responses, treating more than 26,000 injured. She also emphasized the fact that, as globalization increases, no country need be alone in facing public health issues, but that every country should fulfill its international responsibility and take part.

Li added that China eradicated lymphatic filariasis in 2007 and that its maternal, young child, and infant mortality rates reach Millennium Development Goals, and concluded by saying, “China has built public health, basic medical service, insurance, drug supply, and health supervision methods and has improved its health network covering most communities.”