NATIONAL HEALTH COMMISSION

More in NATIONAL HEALTH COMMISSION

• Another outbreak in China; government seeks 'complete' info from WHO on mysterious illness

  The government has sought "complete and detailed information" from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the mysterious respiratory illness that is spreading in China, even as it has said there is no need to panic, said people with knowledge of the matter. "We will be reviewing once we have the complete information on the illness from the WHO. We have sought the same from the health agency," said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified.

  

• Another outbreak in China; government seeks 'complete' info from WHO on mysterious illness

  Since mid-October, northern China has been reporting an increase in influenza-like illness compared with the corresponding period in the previous three years. The symptoms of the disease usually include a sore throat, fatigue, fever and a lingering cough that can last for months, and the infection is most commonly treated with antibiotics.

  

• WHO seeks more information on respiratory illness in northern China

  There has been a rise of influenza-like illnesses in China compared with the same period in the previous three years when strict measures were in force as part of its zero-COVID strategy, which came to an end in December 2022.

  

• Nearly 2 million excess deaths followed China's sudden end of COVID curbs - study

  China's abrupt move to dismantle its strict COVID-19 regime, which unleashed the virus onto its 1.4 billion residents, could have led to nearly 2 million excess deaths in the following two months, a new U.S. study shows. The study by the federally funded Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle was taken from a sample of mortality data published by some universities in China and internet searches.

  

• China launches campaign to crack down on illegal fertility treatments

  In order to standarise the application of assisted human reproductive technologies, the government said it will focus on suppressing illegal and criminal activities including forgery and buying and selling of birth medical certificates from June to December this year.

  

• Beijing to cover IVF, other fertility treatments for couples from July

  In-vitro fertilisation, embryo transplantation, freezing and storing semen are some of the treatments that would be included under basic insurance.

  

• COVID global emergency over but risks remain, says China health official

  The WHO ended its highest level of alert for COVID on Friday, more than three years after its original declaration, saying countries should now manage the virus along with other infectious diseases. The ending of the alert status does not mean COVID will disappear, but its impact can now be effectively controlled, Liang Wannian, head of China's COVID response expert panel under the National Health Commission, said in an interview with state media CCTV published on Saturday.

  

• COVID-19 virus may have originated from humans, claims Chinese scientist

  Tong Yigang of the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, said that the genetic sequences of viral samples taken from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan thought to be the ground zero site of the pandemic, were "almost identical" to those of patients infected with the coronavirus, suggesting that COVID-19 may have originated from humans.

  

• China plans random, spot checks at hospitals to track COVID

  In new measures announced by the National Health Commission, provincial governments will be tasked with daily random supervision and inspections covering an array of areas that include vaccination management at medical and health institutions, including checking the receipt and storage of new coronavirus vaccines.

  

• As China's birth rate slumps, political advisor urges egg freezing for single women

  Last year, China recorded its lowest ever birth rate, of 6.77 births per 1,000 people. Some provinces have already made changes to their rules to boost birth rates. Jilin in northeastern China, which has one of the lowest birth rates in the country, modified its rules in 2002 to permit single women to access IVF but it has had little impact with the practise still banned nationally under the country's National Health Commission.

  

• China reports big jump in COVID hospitalisations, claims WHO report

  The WHO and others have said China has been under-reporting the scale of the outbreak and has repeatedly called for more detailed data, including on deaths, excess mortality and genetic sequences.