By Zhong Nanshan
People’s safety is the cornerstone of national security, and human health is the foundation of the progressin the civilization of a society.
Thanks to the concerted, all-out efforts made by the Chinese people, China has achieved another heroic feat in humankind’s fight against disease by securing major strategic achievements in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.
At present, China has basically resumed the normal work and living order and realized regularepidemic prevention and control, which is a miracle.
Looking back at the arduous struggle of the Chinese people against the novel coronavirus, a lot ofheart-touchingfacts and details have demonstrated China’s people-first philosophy and sense ofmission and responsibility that makes it always put people’s lives first.
As Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC, has stressed, “Weare willing to protect people’s lives and health at all costs”.
No efforts were spared when it came to saving lives, be it a 30-hour-old baby or a centenarian.
China has made all-out efforts to pool the bestmedical workers, urgently needed resources, and advanced equipment to save lives.
All possible diagnosis and treatment plans were employed to cure as many COVID-19 patients as possible, and the cost was fully covered by the state.
It has beena general consensus among the Chinese people that we do everything possibleto save every single life in this battle against the COVID-19.
Puttingpeople first and giving top priority to people’s lives has been the distinctive feature of China’s fight against the pandemic.
People have entrusted theirlives and healthto medical workers.The responsibilityhas not only become medical workers’ driving force for marching forward bravely in response to sudden public health crises, but constantly reminded them that they are thelast line of defense in humanity’s fight against diseasesas well as the most important guards of lives.
The fight against the COVID-19has made it clearer thatthe top priority of public health and medical workers is always ensuring the health and safety of all people across the country whether in front of acute infectious diseases or frequentlyencountered and commonchronic diseases as well aschronic diseases that do great harm to people.
Life is precious, and we only live once.
“Putting people’s lives first” serves as a crucialprinciple that helps China secure major strategic achievements in the fight against the epidemic. It is mirrored in the fact that China has focused efforts on epidemicprevention nationwide and prevented the virus from spreading across the country.
In this way, China has managed to keep thescope of the spread of the virusand the number of confirmed cases under control.Had the virus been allowed to spread, China wouldn’t have successfully brought the pandemic under control later, no matter what goodtreatment methods may be available.
Of course,China’s success in preventing the spread of the epidemic came at a price. China imposed outbound travel restrictions in Wuhan, capital city of central China’s Hubei province and once the epicenter of the pandemic, and other parts of the province, and implemented unprecedentedly strict traffic control to curb the spread of the virus.
In an effort to effectively bring the pandemic under control in a country with 1.4 billion people, China pressed the “pause button” in its megacity Wuhan and paid a heavy price.
It is a price China must pay and a price worth paying, for people’s lives are always the top priority.We can always make up for economic losses but can never bring lives back.
Science and technology should play a big role in our efforts to adhereto the“people first, life first” principle.
Science and technology are sharp weapons in humanity’s battle against diseases, Xi pointed out, saying that humanity can’t defeat a major disaster or epidemic without scientific development and technological innovation.
Innovation is the primary driving force for development, and science and technologies are powerful tools to overcome difficulties.
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, China has secured steady growth in medical and health services.
Driven byscientific and technological innovation, the country has made remarkable achievements invarious aspects of relevant fields, such asbasic medicine, clinical medicine, preventive medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine. It is such achievements that have become powerful tools in combating the virus.
At present, China is giving full play to its new strategy of pooling nationwide resources for breakthroughs in core technologies, such as the research and development of COVID-19 vaccine, in which Chinais at the forefront globally.
We are confident of making progress in such fields as the research and development of testing methods, clinical treatment, and effective vaccinesand drugs through our own efforts and international cooperation.
We will continue overcoming difficulties and solving problems along the way through
scientific and technological progressand provide strong sci-tech support for our practice of “people first, life first” principle.
(ZhongNanshan is head of the high-level expert group of the National Health Commission of China, academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and respiratory professor at Guangzhou Medical University.)
