Chen Jingyu: Call to lift rules on lung disease and brain death

Chen Jingyu, vice-president of Wuxi People's Hospital and a third-time deputy to the 13th National People's Congress, calls for lifting rules on lung disease and brain death. [Photo/wxrb.com]

Restrictions on the diagnosis of an occupational lung disease that affects Chinese laborers should be relaxed to ensure patients receive proper treatment, a State legislator said ahead of the annual two sessions.

Pneumoconiosis is caused by inhaling dust and affects industrial and agricultural workers. Among coal miners, the condition is often called black lung.

China's current regulations state that patients who suspect they have the condition must receive a diagnosis from an institute certified to handle occupational diseases, such as a center for disease control, before receiving treatment.

Yet this is inconvenient for those living outside cities and causes many people to delay seeking help until they reach the late stages of the illness, according to Chen Jingyu, a deputy to the National People's Congress, the country’s top legislature.

"I suggest we eliminate this monopoly on the diagnosis and treatment of pneumoconiosis," Chen, who is vice-president of Wuxi People's Hospital in Jiangsu province, said this month." This would mean that diagnosis and certification of the illness as an occupational disease would be separated, and patients would receive a more timely diagnosis and more effective treatment."

Doctor Chen Jingyu (right) operates on a pneumoconiosis patient at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing in February. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin / China Daily]

In addition, Chen has proposed implementing legislation concerning brain death over a two-year period, "Over 100 countries and regions have implemented legislation for brain death, China should keep this in mind when seeking ways to reduce the burden on families and save medical resources."

Wuxi People's Hospital has been cooperating with 17 medical institutions for three years to improve its system of tiered medical services. "According to this year's Government Work Report, the key to carrying out tiered medical services is building a team of community general practitioners," Chen said.