Moderate aging is coming, and comprehensive prevention and control of chronic diseases is no small matter

October 23 is the traditional Double Ninth Festival in my country, a day for respecting and loving the elderly. According to forecast data released by the National Health Commission, it is expected that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the total number of people aged 60 and above in my country will exceed 300 million, accounting for more than 20%, entering a moderately aging stage.

"Monitoring data over the past decade show that the mortality rates of the four major chronic diseases in my country, including cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, have generally been on a downward trend, and positive progress has been made in the prevention and control of chronic diseases." At the 2023 China Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Conference on October 21, Shen Hongbing, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also pointed out that with the deepening of aging, the burden of chronic diseases continues to increase, and the prevalence of chronic disease comorbidities increases year by year.

"Obesity is the main risk factor for many chronic diseases." When introducing the main risk factors for chronic diseases, Shen Hongbing said that respiratory diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and other diseases are mostly related to obesity.

Excessive salt intake is also a major risk factor. Martin Taylor, the World Health Organization's representative in China, said that the average daily salt intake of Chinese people is about 9.3 grams, which is nearly twice the amount recommended by the WHO.

"Smoking is also something we are concerned about." Shen Hongbing said that the proportion of male smokers in my country is high, much higher than in most countries in the world.

In addition, insufficient physical activity, insufficient intake of vegetables and fruits, and insufficient testing of blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipids all affect the incidence of chronic diseases in our country.

Based on this, Lei Haichao, deputy director of the National Health Commission, reminded that the traditional chronic disease intervention method based on drug intervention should be changed. For example, while carrying out drug treatment, medical workers should provide lifestyle conditioning services such as weight management, moderate exercise, smoking and alcohol cessation according to the patient's disease characteristics, family characteristics, lifestyle, etc. He advocated that non-drug intervention treatments should be considered more for patients in the early stages of chronic diseases.

"The 14th Five-Year Plan period is an important window period for strengthening the prevention and control of chronic diseases with the elderly as the main body." Lei Haichao said that the chronic disease prevention and control experimental demonstration areas, grassroots health comprehensive experimental areas and food nutrition and health experimental areas should be used as the starting point to guard the first line of defense for chronic disease prevention and control through grassroots management of chronic diseases.

The widespread application of new technologies and products will also give rise to more effective new prevention and control methods, such as the "Internet + chronic disease" prevention and control model, which will give rise to smart medical care and personalized health services. Lei Haichao stressed that we must continue to strengthen the supporting role of scientific and technological innovation, vigorously promote basic research, cutting-edge technology and clinical research, break through key technologies such as early screening and early detection of diseases, precise diagnosis and treatment, and biological treatment, and form a series of available and easy-to-use major chronic disease prevention and control plans that are in line with the characteristics of the Chinese population and diseases.

Data shows that my country has built 488 national comprehensive chronic disease prevention and control experimental zones, with a county coverage rate of over 17%. A total of 2,880 counties and districts have carried out the "three reductions and three healths" healthy lifestyle campaign, with a coverage rate of 97.3%. The premature mortality rate from major chronic diseases has dropped from 18.5% in 2015 to 15.2% in 2022.