After the discovery of the highly contagious variant of incoming travelers in the southern province Guangdong, Hunan's provincial capital is now the latest victim. According to local health authorities, the infected individuals have not left closed-loop quarantine and are currently being treated in hospitals.
Beijing placed China's zero strategy under severe pressure.
However, no local transmissions have been reported. China's closed borders make it less vulnerable to the spread of Omicron, but there are increased risks.
In less than 50 days Beijing will host the Winter Olympics.
Tens of thousands of foreigners are allowed to enter the country. Recent reports have shown that Chinese shotsgiven by the vast majority of China's highly vaccinated population do not provide enough antibodies against omicron. source
China must ensure that ports and borders are secure before the Olympic events, Liang Wannian (an epidemiologist who heads China's special taskforce on the pandemic response) said at a press release.
China's rapid socioeconomic
China's rapid socioeconomic, and demographic change will have a profound impact on the wellbeing and health of its people. To fulfill its promise of a Healthy China 2030, it will be essential to prepare the health system and the public health response to new threats and challenges. This issue of The Lancet Public Health focuses on the health of China's 1*4billion citizens. It features the best Chinese research and highlights the most urgent public health issues. source
Non-communicable disease is the main cause of death and morbidity in China today.
An assortment of articles on cancer, stroke and injury show how it is important to address persistent disparities and reduce risk factors. Hongmei Zeng, along with colleagues, looked at five common cancers. They identified differences in diagnosis and reported large disparities between male and female patients. This has important implications for cancer awareness, screening and early detection. China is responsible for almost half of all new cases of stomach cancer worldwide. Ling Yang and his colleagues estimated that around 80% of non-cardiagastric cancer cases and 60% of cardia gastric carcinoma cases in China could be attributed to Helicobacter Pylori infection. recommend that population-based H pylori screening be performed and that eradication be taken into consideration for gastric cancer prevention.
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD), 2019 also appears in this issue. Qingfeng Ma and her colleagues discuss the risk factors and burden of stroke. The burden of stroke was high in 2019, with 3*94,000,000 new stroke cases. However, the age-standardised mortality and incidence rates have declined since 1990.
This high burden can be reduced by effective prevention strategies against its major risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high levels of air pollution, smoking, and diet. Peng peng Ye, along with colleagues, report on the impact of falls among older adults.
Falls are the leading cause for injury-related death in older adults. The incidence of falls among people 60 and older in China has increased significantly between 1990 and 2019. This highlights the need to invest in fall prevention strategies in order to reduce risks and address an increasing absolute burden with ageing. source
In China, there were 264 million people 60 and over in 2020. This number is expected to rise to 300 million by 2025, which would be nearly a fifth of the total population. This demographic shift could cause a major disruption to China's business system.
