Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of Basic Medical and Health Care

Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of Basic Medical and Health Care Order of the President of the People's Republic of China (No. 38) The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of Basic Medical and Health Care, as adopted at the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 28, 2019, is hereby issued and shall come into force on June 1, 2020. President of the People's Republic of China: Xi Jinping December 28, 2019 Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of Basic Medical and Health Care (Adopted at the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 28, 2019) Contents Chapter I General Provisions Chapter II Basic Medical Services Chapter III Medical Institutions Chapter IV Medical Personnel Chapter V Guarantee for Supply of Drugs Chapter VI Health Care Promotion Chapter VII Funds Guarantee Chapter VIII Supervision and Administration Chapter IX Legal Liabilities Chapter X Supplemental Provisions Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 This Law is developed for the purposes of developing the medical and health care cause, ensuring that citizens enjoy basic medical services, improving the health care level of citizens, and promoting the construction of healthy China according to the Constitution. Article 2 The activities of promoting, supervising and managing medical and health care shall be governed by this Law. Article 3 The medical and health care cause shall be people-oriented and serve the people's health. The medical cause shall insist on the principle of public welfare. Article 4 The state and society shall respect and protect citizens' right to health. The state shall implement the strategy of healthy China, popularize healthy life, optimize health care services, improve health guarantee, create a sound environment, develop the health care industry, and enhance citizens' health level in the full life cycle. The state shall establish a health education system to protect citizens' right to health education and improve citizens' level of health literacy. Article 5 Citizens shall, in accordance with the law, enjoy the right to obtain basic medical services from the state and society. The state shall establish a basic medical system, establish and improve the medical service system, and protect and realize citizens' right to obtain basic medical services. Article 6 The people's governments at all levels shall put people's health at a strategic position of prior development, integrate the health concept into various policies, insist on focusing on prevention, improve the health care promotion work system, organize and implement the general plans and actions of health care promotion, promote national fitness, establish a health impact assessment system, and incorporate the improvement of the major health indicators of citizens into the government's target responsibility assessment. The public shall jointly care for and support the development of the medical and health care cause. Article 7 The State Council and the local people's governments at all levels shall lead the medical and health care promotion work. The appropriate medical and health department under the State Council shall be responsible for the overall planning and coordination of the medical and health care promotion work across the country. Other relevant departments of the State Council shall, within the scope of their respective functions, be responsible for the the relevant medical and health care promotion work. The appropriate medical and health departments of the local people's governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for the overall planning and coordination of the medical and health care promotion work within their respective administrative regions. Other relevant departments of the local people's governments at or above the county level shall, within the scope of their respective functions, be responsible for the relevant medical and health care promotion work. Article 8 The state shall strengthen basic medical scientific research, encourage innovation on medical science and technology, support clinical medical development, promote the transformation of application of the medical scientific and technological achievements, advance the integrated development of medicine and information technology, promote the appropriate medical technologies, and improve the quality of medical services. The state shall develop medical education, improve the medical education system that meets the needs of the development of the medical cause, and vigorously cultivate medical talents. Article 9 The state shall vigorously develop the cause of traditional Chinese medicine, insist on attaching equal importance to traditional Chinese and western medicine and combining inheritance and innovation, and maximize the unique role of traditional Chinese medicine in the medical and health care cause. Article 10 The state shall rationally plan and allocate medical resources, focus on the grass roots, adopt various measures to give priority to supporting the development of medical institutions below the county level, and improve their capacity of providing medical services. Article 11 The state shall increase financial input in the medical and health care cause, and give priority to supporting the development of the medical and health care cause in the old revolutionary base areas, ethnic areas, border areas and economic less-developed areas by increasing transfer payments and other methods. Article 12 The state shall encourage and support citizens, legal persons and other organizations to participate in the medical and health care cause, and meet citizens' diversified, differentiated and personalized health needs by forming institutions, donations, granting subsidies and other means according to the law. Citizens, legal persons and other organizations that donate property for the medical and health care cause shall enjoy tax preference according to the law. Article 13 The state shall commend and reward the organizations and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the medical and health care cause according to the provisions of the state. Article 14 The state shall encourage and support the foreign exchange and cooperation in the field of medical and health care promotion. The foreign exchange and cooperation activities in medical and health care promotion shall be carried out in compliance with the laws and regulations, and by methods of protecting the national sovereignty, security and public interests. Chapter II Basic Medical Services Article 15 “Basic medical services” means disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, nursing, rehabilitation and other services provided by adopting suitable drugs, appropriate technologies and suitable equipment that are necessary for the maintenance of human health, that are compatible with the economic and social development level, and that are equitably available to citizens. Basic medical services include basic public health services and basic medical services. Basic public health services shall be provided by the state free of charge. Article 16 The state shall adopt measures to ensure that citizens enjoy safe and effective basic public health services, control the risk factors affecting health, and improve the disease prevention and control level. The national basic public health service items shall be jointly determined by the appropriate medical and health department under the State Council in conjunction with the appropriate departments of finance and traditional Chinese medicine under the State Council. The people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may, on the basis of the basic public health service items, determine the basic public health service items of the respective administrative regions in a supplementary manner and report to the appropriate medical and health department under the State Council for recordation. Article 17 The State Council and the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may include the contents of services for key areas, key diseases and specific groups of people in the basic public health service items and organize the implementation thereof. The local people's governments at or above the county level shall carry out special prevention and control work according to the major diseases and major health risk factors in their respective administrative regions. Article 18 The people's governments at or above the county level shall, by forming professional public health institutions, grassroots medical institutions and hospitals or purchasing services from other medical institutions, provide basic public health services. Article 19 The state shall establish and improve a health emergency response system for emergencies, develop and improve the contingency plans, and organize and carry out medical rescue and treatment, health investigation and disposition, psychological assistance and other health emergency response work in response to emergencies, to effectively control and eliminate harms. Article 20 The state shall establish a system for the prevention and control of infectious diseases, develop general plans for the prevention and control of infectious diseases and organize the implementation thereof, strengthen the monitoring and early warning of infectious diseases, insist on focusing on prevention and combining prevention and control, conduct joint prevention and control, mass prevention and control, prevention and control at the source and comprehensive governance, to block transmission routes, protect vulnerable populations, and reduce harms of infectious diseases. Every entity and individual shall accept and cooperate with the investigation, inspection, specimen collection, treatment in isolation, medical observation and other measures taken by medical institutions according to the law to prevent, control and eliminate the harm of infectious diseases. Article 21 The state shall implement the vaccination system and strengthen the immunization planning work. Residents shall have the right and obligation to be inoculated under the immunization program according to the law. The government shall provide vaccines in the immunization program for residents free of charge. Article 22 The state shall establish a system for the prevention, control and management of chronic non-infectious diseases, conduct investigation into, monitoring, comprehensive prevention and control of and intervention in the chronic non-infectious diseases and pathogenic risk factors thereof, identify high-risk groups in a timely manner, and provide patients and high-risk groups with services such as diagnosis and treatment, early intervention, follow-up visit management and health education. Article 23 The state shall strengthen occupational health protection. The people's governments at or above the county level shall develop occupational disease prevention and control plans, establish and improve the occupational health work mechanisms, strengthen occupational health supervision and management, and improve the comprehensive capacity and occupational diseases prevention and control level. Employers shall control the harmful factors of occupational diseases, take comprehensive treatment measures such as engineering technology, individual protection and health management, and improve the work environment and working conditions. Article 24 The state shall develop the maternal and child health care cause, establish and improve maternal and child health care service system, provide health care and common disease prevention and control services for women and children, to guarantee the health of women and children. The state shall adopt measures to provide citizens with services such as pre-marital health care and maternal health care, promote reproductive health, and prevent birth defects. Article 25 The state shall develop the cause of health care for senior citizens. The State Council and the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall incorporate health management of senior citizens and prevention of common diseases into the basic public health service items. Article 26 The State shall develop the cause of disability prevention and recovery of the disabled, improve the system for the disability prevention and recovery of the disabled and the guarantee, and take measures to provide basic rehabilitation services for the disabled. The people's governments at or above the county level shall give priority to carrying out the work of recovery of disabled children and combine recovery and education. Article 27 The state shall establish and improve the pre-hospital emergency rescue system to provide timely, standardized and effective first aid services for patients suffering from emergencies, critical diseases, and severe diseases. The appropriate medical and health departments, the Red Cross Society and other relevant departments shall actively carry out first-aid training, popularize first-aid knowledge, and encourage medical personnel and personnel that have received first-aid training to actively participate in first aid services in public places. Public places shall be equipped with necessary first aid equipment and facilities according to the provisions. First aid centers (stations) shall not refuse to provide or delay in providing first aid services for patients suffering from emergencies, critical diseases, and severe diseases on the grounds of non-payment. Article 28 The state shall develop the mental health cause, establish and improve a mental health service system, safeguard and enhance citizens' mental health, and prevent and treat mental disorders. The state shall take measures to strengthen the construction of a mental health service system and talent teams, promote the effective connection of mental health education, psychological assessment, psychological counseling and psychological treatment services, set up a psychological assistance hotline for providing public welfare services, and improve the mental health services for minors, disabled persons, senior citizens and other key groups of people. Article 29 Basic medical services shall mainly be provided by medical institutions founded by the government. Medical institutions founded by social forces shall be encouraged to provide basic medical services. Article 30 The state shall promote the implementation of the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system for basic medical services, direct non-emergency patients to firstly see doctors at grassroots medical institutions, implement the initial diagnosis accountability system and transferring diagnosis examination and accountability system, gradually establish a mechanism characterized by initial diagnosis by grassroots medical institutions, two-way transfer, separate treatment of acute and chronic diseases, and linkage between upper and lower levels, and be connected with the basic medical insurance system. The local people's governments at or above the county level shall, on the basis of the medical needs within their respective administrative regions, integrate the government-run medical resources within the regions, and establish a medical service cooperative mechanism characterized by coordination and cooperation of medical consortiums in light of local circumstances. Medical institutions founded by social forces shall be encouraged to participate in the medical services cooperative mechanism. Article 31 The state shall promote the provision of family doctor contracting services by grassroots medical institutions, form family doctor service teams, enter into agreements with residents, and provide basic medical services according to residents' health conditions and medical needs. Article 32 When receiving medical services, citizens shall have the right to informed consent for the illness, diagnosis and treatment plans, medical risks, medical expenses and other matters according to the law. Where surgery, special check and special treatment need to be conducted, medical personnel shall explain the medical risks, alternative medical plans and other situations to patients in a timely manner, and obtain their consent; and where it is unable or inappropriate to make explanation to a patient, explanation shall be made to the close relatives of the patient, and consent thereof shall be obtained, except as otherwise prescribed in the laws and regulations. Clinical experiments and other medical research of drugs and medical devices shall comply with the medical ethics and specifications, pass ethical review according to the law, and obtain informed consent. Article 33 Citizens receiving medical services shall be respected. Medical institutions and medical personnel shall care for and treat patients equally, respect patients' personal dignity and protect patients' privacy. Citizens shall, when receiving medical services, comply with the rules on diagnosis and treatment, maintain the order of medical services, and respect medical personnel. Chapter III Medical Institutions Article 34 The state shall establish and improve the medical service system that is composed of grassroots medical institutions, hospitals and professional public health institutions, among others, and that completely covers urban and rural areas, and under which components complement with each other in functions and continuously cooperate with each other. The state shall strengthen the construction of county-level hospitals, township health centers, village health rooms, community health service centers (stations), and professional public health institutions, among others, and establish and improve the rural medical service networks and urban community health service networks. Article 35 Grassroots medical institutions shall mainly provide prevention, health care, health education, and disease management, create health files for residents, diagnosis and treatment of common d......