Intended for healthcare professionals
Unmet needs for chronic diseases in China
In China, the burden of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, and diabetes, has greatly increased in recent decades, driven mostly by population ageing and poor control of risk factors such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diets, and air pollution.
Non-communicable diseases account for 91% of deaths in China and present an increasing burden on national healthcare expenditure. China urgently needs innovative and decisive strategies to tackle these chronic diseases.
In this BMJ Collection, experts from China shed light on the current state and challenges of non-communicable chronic disease prevention and control and discuss future strategies for tackling the problem.
Editorial
Progress and challenges in NCD prevention and control in China
Jun Lv and Zuo-Feng Zhang highlight the importance of strong national leadership and mutlisectoral engagement in tackling chronic diseases
Analysis
Bridging the digital divide to promote prevention and control of non-communicable diseases for all in China and beyond
Ruitai Shao and colleagues argue that the digital divide may exacerbate global disparities in prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and enlarge health inequity when effective digital health solutions are unevenly distributed
Frailty as a breakthrough point for multimorbidity management among older adults: challenges and opportunities in China
Huan Xi and colleagues argue that tailored strategies are needed to seamlessly integrate frailty assessment into multimorbidity management, thereby promoting a shift towards a health oriented management approach
Burden of non-communicable diseases due to population ageing in China: challenges to healthcare delivery and long term care services
China has made substantial progress in healthcare delivery to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases due to population ageing, although challenges and opportunities in long term care services have been under-recognised, argue Xiaoming Shi and colleagues
Reducing inequity through tackling social determinants of cardiovascular diseases in China
Guang Ning and colleagues underline the importance of tackling social determinants and associated inequity in prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases
Non-pharmacological interventions for prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases with experiences from China
Non-pharmacological interventions for prevention of non-communicable diseases are undervalued, and clinicians and policy makers need to be more active in implementing them, say Hongbing Shen and colleagues
Opinion
Definitions of chronic disease need to be more patient centred
Early, small abnormal changes should be defined as disease only if there are effective interventions that can make an important difference to patients, argue Zu-Yao Yang and Jin-Ling Tang
Chronic disease and infection in China: lessons from the covid-19 pandemic
The covid-19 pandemic is over but provided many lessons for population health and chronic diseases, say Luzhao Feng and colleagues
This BMJ Collection on chronic diseases in China is funded by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing Hospital, and the authors and their institutions. The BMJ commissioned, peer reviewed, edited, and made the decisions to publish these articles. The lead editors for The BMJ were Jin-Ling Tang and Di Wang.
