Healthcare

As of the end of 2024, Hunan's average life expectancy reached 79 years. The major health indicators such as the mortality rate for maternal pregnancies, infants and children under five, as well as the health literacy rate, have obviously surpassed the national average level.

 
Hunan has included deepening medical reform on the list of the first batch of key reform tasks authorized by the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee. A "Five Level" goal has been set up—"chronic diseases can be managed without leaving the village; common illnesses can be treated without leaving the township; more complex common diseases can be treated without leaving the county; most illnesses can be treated without leaving the city; and all illnesses can be treated without leaving the province. Supporting policies have been rolled out successively, with pilot programs launched in eight cities (prefecture).

 
Xiangtan, Loudi, and Changsha cities have been approved to implement national demonstration projects for promoting public hospital reforms and high-quality development. In the national medical reform monitoring and evaluation in 2024, all 13 cities and one prefecture across Hunan Province were rated A or above. Between 2020 and 2024, the proportion of personal healthcare expenditures borne by residents decreased from 29.38% to 27.38%.

 
The province currently has 57,600 medical and health institutions, 523,200 beds, and 685,500 healthcare personnel. A number of key projects have been approved, including the National Center for Mental Health and several national and regional medical centers.

 
The medical service capacity of county-level hospitals has significantly improved. Of these, 84.44% hospitals meet the service capacity standards of the third-grade hospitals, marking an increase of 55.98 percentage points over the 13th Five-Year Plan period. The province has comprehensively advanced the construction of county-level medical consortia, with 142 medical consortia established across 99 counties, county-level cities, and districts. The proportion of medical visits handled by primary-level medical institutions has risen from 56.2% in 2020 to 62.54% in 2024.

 
Hunan has maintained its polio-free status for 32 consecutive years, and has reported no diphtheria cases for 21 consecutive years. The province has ranked third nationwide in the national performance evaluation of basic public health services. The premature mortality rate of major chronic diseases has decreased by 29.03% compared to 2020.

 
A unified provincial medical and health data platform has been established, covering the full lifecycle health records of 66 million residents. The health code has been upgraded to a personal health terminal that integrates 22 services.

 
Over the past five years, Hunan has continuously given play to the distinctive strengths of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The province has been approved to establish a National Demonstration Zone for Comprehensive Reform in the TCM sector. During this period, Hunan has added one National TCM Master, two National Famous TCM Doctors, two Qi Huang Scholars, three Young Qi Huang Scholars, and 197 National-level TCM Talents. A total of 1,512 TCM research projects have been approved for funding, and two international standards as well as 179 local standards for Chinese medicinal materials have been developed.

 
Hunan's TCM industry is flourishing, with the total output value of the entire industrial chain reaching 154.2 billion CNY, representing a growth of 41.3% compared to 2020.

According to the annual statistical communiqué, by the end of 2024, there were 57,650 healthcare institutions in Hunan. Among them, there were 1,762 hospitals, 138 maternal and child health centers, 62 specialized disease prevention and treatment centers, 1,998 township health centers, 1,102 community health service centers, 14,820 clinics, and 35,521 village clinics. The number of medical technical personnel totaled 567,000, down by 0.6 percent over the previous year. Among them, there were 223,000 licensed doctors and licensed assistant doctors, and 264,000 registered nurses. Hospitals had 387,000 beds, a decrease of 0.8 percent, while township health centers had 104,000 beds, a decrease of 1.3 percent.