Local residents' health awareness rising, but not fast enough

About 28.4 percent of local residents have basic knowledge of health care and disease prevention, rising 3 percentage points from the previous year, according to a survey conducted by the Shanghai Health Enhancement Center.

Though overall health understanding keeps rising, local residents’ knowledge of chronic disease prevention and control, basic health services and infectious disease prevention is still lagging, the survey covering over 32,000 residents found.

Over half of those surveyed don’t know the importance of regular blood pressure testing for hypertension patients, nearly 60 percent don’t understand the meaning of "over-the-counter medicine," and the majority don’t know they should use a tissue or handkerchief when coughing or sneezing.

On top of that, more than half don't know breast feeding can protect a baby from becoming sick, and over 30 percent don’t know iodine deficiency can influence children’s intelligence and development.

Local health authorities said they will further boost the promotion of health education as district- and city-level hospitals actively involve health education in out-patient services and through new-media tools like WeChat.