Doctors promote health-care education

Shanghai Medical Doctor Association set up its scientific education branch on Tuesday to encourage doctors to educate the public in health care and help streamline the relationship between doctors and patients.

Experiences of the new branch in Shanghai will be promoted nationwide to benefit more patients, said Dr Xu Jianguang, the association's director.

Public health awareness and health protection knowledge in China lag behind developed countries and regions. Some 544,000 people die of cardiac arrest every year in China. Less than 1 percent of people are saved, while the percentage is 16.2 in major cities in the United States. The average percentage is 2 to 15 in developed countries.

Currently, there are 7 million patients who have suffered a stroke in China, with 2 million new patients every year. Around 60 percent of patients die while the rest are left with various complications. The death rate from strokes in China is four to five times that in the Europe and the US. Doctors said these are mostly related with people’s poor awareness and not going to hospital in time, missing the best time for treatment.

Dr Pan Shuming, vice president of Xinhua Hospital and director of the new branch, said doctors should shoulder more responsibility for health promotion and help improve public awareness on health protection and disease prevention.