From January 5th to 6th, the 2026 National Health Work Conference was held in Beijing. At the conference, the National Health Commission (NHC) identified the Ten Practical Matters for Serving the People across the health system in 2026. The meeting noted that the eight practical initiatives launched in 2025 were well-received by the public. For 2026, efforts should not only maintain continuity and stability but also introduce new arrangements.

Details of the ten practical matters were elaborated at the conference:

1. Add 1,000 township health centers and community health service centers to provide diagnosis and treatment services for common and frequently-occurring childhood diseases, further consolidate and strengthen pediatric services, and improve their accessibility and convenience.

2. Expand psychological outpatient services to 110 additional counties, facilitating the extension of mental health services closer to the public.

3. Ensure all tertiary public hospitals offer outpatient services for healthy weight management, reducing the health risks of chronic diseases among the population.

4. Taking prefecture-level cities as the basic unit, promote the mutual recognition of at least 300 inspection and testing items among medical institutions at or above the secondary level, improving patients' medical experience and saving their costs and time.

5. Ensure that all counties with a permanent population of over 60,000 provide hemodialysis services. Nationwide, add hemodialysis services to 350 more township health centers and community health service centers, making it more convenient for patients to access such services nearby.

6. Enable 10,000 medical institutions across the country to provide early pregnancy care clinics, strengthen consulting and guidance during the first trimester, and effectively protect fertility.

7. Add 150,000 affordable nursery places nationwide, alleviate the burden of childcare on families, and increase the enrollment rate in light of local conditions.

8. Provide free human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination under the national immunization program for all girls aged 13, reducing infection rates and the incidence of cervical cancer in adulthood. All township health centers and community health service centers will offer vaccination services on weekends to further improve the accessibility of vaccination services.

9. Train 3,200 backbone talents in the "Western Medicine Practitioners Learning Traditional Chinese Medicine" program, enabling more people to access high-quality and convenient integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine services.

10. Hold press conferences themed "Seasonal Solar Terms and Health", and organize over 10,000 health knowledge lectures nationwide. Promote the integration of health science popularization services into people's daily work and life, and further improve residents' health literacy.

The meeting required the continuous optimization and upgrading of the practical service projects implemented in 2025. For example, newly added services such as pediatric care and hemodialysis should be further standardized; the 12356 Psychological Assistance Hotline should be strengthened with more staffing, policy support, and call forwarding during peak hours to improve service quality. The goal of facilitating blood fee reduction and exemption is to encourage voluntary blood donation. Efforts should be made to advance the revision of the Blood Donation Law, strengthen the organization and mobilization of group blood donation in government agencies, enterprises, public institutions, social organizations, and communities, and enhance blood supply capacity. In the collaboration and assistance programs between eastern and western regions, talents, resources, and technologies should be directed toward the Ten Practical Matters for Serving the People to ensure the achievement of goals and tangible results.

Source: Official Website of the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of ChinaImage