On Nov. 19, 2025, the Fulu Township Health Center in Bishan District, Chongqing Municipality, organized a free medical consultation event for the residents of Heping Village. Photo: IC PHOTO

People’s health is the primary indicator of modernization, forming the foundation of public well-being and a happy life. Advancing the modernization of health governance has therefore become a major issue facing China today. Modern health governance refers to the application of modern theories, concepts, and methods to enhance governance quality, capacity, and overall effectiveness, thereby promoting the harmonious and healthy development of individuals, society, and the state. In the health sector, this entails building a governance model that is scientifically grounded, efficient, equitable, inclusive, and capable of responding dynamically to changing needs. Such a model would optimize the allocation of health resources, systematically improve service quality, and continuously strengthen the capacity to safeguard public health for all.

“People-centeredness” constitutes the defining feature of China’s modern health governance system. At the conceptual level, this requires a shift from the traditional focus on disease treatment toward an approach centered on health promotion, while firmly upholding the principle of “people-centeredness.” In policymaking, health considerations should be integrated across sectors, including the economy, education, and the environment. In terms of resource allocation, greater investment in public health is needed, with priority given to primary-level medical institutions and vulnerable groups. In service provision, full life-course health management should be advocated through the establishment of an integrated service chain encompassing prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, follow-up, and long-term care.

“Co-construction and co-governance” represent a key pathway for unlocking the effectiveness of modern health governance. It is essential to refine a multi-stakeholder collaborative governance framework that is government-led, market-coordinated, socially inclusive, and oriented toward individual empowerment, while clearly defining the responsibilities and obligations of each party. Mechanisms for the coordinated development of healthcare services, health insurance, and pharmaceuticals should be established to achieve high-efficiency governance. The “joint prevention and control” mechanism should be strengthened to enhance rapid response and resource coordination during public health emergencies. At the same time, coordination among medical institutions at all levels should be guided by clear functional positioning, resource sharing, and process optimization, while promoting the downward flow of talent, technology, and services to county, township, and village levels.

Respect for science lies at the core of improving the quality of modern health governance. The spirit of science, professional thinking, and technological capacity should be integrated throughout the entire process of decision-making, implementation, and oversight. It is necessary to establish more sensitive disease monitoring and response systems and to refine digital early-warning mechanisms with multiple trigger points. Greater efforts should be devoted to public health and clinical research in order to enhance the research, development, and commercialization of new drugs, innovative medical devices, and cutting-edge medical technologies, as well as their international competitiveness. In parallel, the development of digital health and telemedicine should be accelerated, making fuller use of big data to improve the precision and personalization of healthcare services.

A sense of shared destiny is an inevitable requirement for achieving the goals of modern health governance. Health disparities among regions and population groups must be narrowed, with health equity embedded in national strategies such as rural revitalization and new-type urbanization, so as to enhance overall public well-being. International cooperation should be strengthened, with active participation in building a “Global Health Community” and in forging collective responses to major public health challenges. As a major country, China should shoulder its responsibilities in promoting a more inclusive and equitable global health governance framework, contributing Chinese experience and solutions to global health governance and advancing the “internationalization of local experiences and the localization of global governance.”

Wang Peigang is a professor from the School of Public Health at Wuhan University.

Edited by WANG YOURAN