China strengthens medical sector supervision

BEIJING - The Chinese government has ordered strengthened supervision over the medical sector to better protect the health of the public.

A guideline issued by the State Council, released on Friday, said the scope of supervision should be expanded from medical institutes to the entire medical and health sector. Supervision should cover all areas, using all sorts of measures, including administrative, legal and economic ones, it said.

The guideline stressed that bodies should be identified to enforce the supervision with clearly-defined duties and powers.

It said reform of administrative approvals should be sped up, supervision over the quality of medical services strengthened, the operation of medical institutes monitored, and medical personnel scrutinized.

A credit system for the entire medical sector should be set up and information needs to be made public on a regular basis. A system to detect and analyze risks should be set up, using information technology to forestall major risks.

The guideline emphasized accountability to enforce order to establish an authoritative and effective supervision system.