BEIJING – November 04, 2026 -- China invested approximately 1.4 trillion yuan in health-related poverty alleviation between 2015 and 2020, according to a Lancet Commission report launched at Tsinghua University on October 29.
The Commission, led by Tsinghua University and chaired by Margaret Chan, Dean of the Vanke School of Public Health and WHO Director-General Emeritus, analyzed four years of data on China's health poverty alleviation policies and their implementation.
Out-of-pocket inpatient costs for the poor fell ten percentage points
The share of inpatient expenses paid out of pocket by people living in poverty declined from 41.0% in 2013 to 31.0% in 2018. A national monitoring system now tracks more than 80 million low-income rural residents to identify risks of health-related poverty.
The report examines how China paired financial protection and primary healthcare with interventions in safe drinking water, housing, nutrition and education. Because multiple policies ran concurrently and data are limited, the authors state that further research is needed to assess the contribution of individual measures.
Launch event drew 130 participants from government, academia and health institutions
Speakers included Chen Zhu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Tsinghua University Vice President Wang Hongwei; Sun Yang, Deputy Director of the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration; and Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet. Martin Taylor, WHO Representative to China, addressed the event by video.
Horton discussed the links between health and social determinants, including nutrition, water, housing and education. Chen Zhu called for appropriate technologies to reach primary care settings and for closer coordination across prevention, screening, treatment and long-term health management.
Qiao Jie, Director of Peking University Health Science Center, spoke about women's and children's health, quality of care and patient dignity. Amanda Bissex, UNICEF Deputy Representative to China, stressed the role of nutrition, healthcare and social support in addressing multidimensional poverty from early childhood.
Chan described the launch as a starting point for further research, policy dialogue and international cooperation.