A national meeting on medical and health assistance to Northwest China’s Qinghai province opens on May 30 in its capital Xining. [Photo/nhc.gov.cn]

A national meeting on medical and health assistance to Northwest China's Qinghai province opened on May 30 at its capital Xining to promote the assistance program.

Li Bin, vice-minister of the National Health Commission, attended the meeting and made remarks.

The meeting affirmed previous assistance work and progress and addressed the urgency of thoroughly promoting the health poverty alleviation program in the province.

Three main fields were identified for the medical assistance of other regions including Beijing to Qinghai in the future at the meeting, namely strengthening the capability of county-level hospitals, establishing systems which integrate health centers in county, township and village levels, and building standards for health centers in villages.

A three-part program, which includes treatment of 21 critical diseases for poor individuals, assigning family doctors to poor families with chronic disease patients, and offering severe disease insurance for poor families, should be effectively implemented in Qinghai, according to the meeting.

The prevention and control of endemic and infectious diseases would be improved.

Medical and health assistance is required to be targeted and an alliance of county-level hospitals as well as an "Internet plus medical and health" system is expected to be established, according to the meeting.

Health authorities should also support the development of traditional Tibetan medicine, meeting participants said.