Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

SHENZHEN officially launched a family doctor hotline platform yesterday, the ninth World Family Doctor Day.

The platform, a key task for improving people’s livelihood in 2019, will provide basic health consultation and preliminary illness assessment, as well as help transfer the call to the resident’s family doctor service team.

In Shenzhen, family doctors are mainly general practitioners who treat common diseases and share health-care knowledge, according to the city’s health commission.

As of the end of April 2019, 631 community health institutions in Shenzhen had launched contracted family doctor services, and a total of 2,428 service teams had provided family doctor services for residents.

More than 3.95 million residents have signed up for family doctor services across the city, accounting for 31.01 percent of the city’s permanent population and 66 percent of the targeted groups, according to the commission.

The targeted groups include children under 6 years old, pregnant women, the elderly, patients with chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes, and those with severe mental disorders and tuberculosis.

Residents can go to government-run grass-roots health institutions, including hospitals, community health service centers, outpatient departments, clinics and privately run health institutions that provide family doctor services, to select suitable doctors. In principle, the service period of a family doctor is one year.

Another way to sign up for family doctor services is to follow the official WeChat account of Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission, “szwjwwx,” click “新生健康” at the bottom and “家庭医生” for registration, and then select a family doctor service team.

For consultation on health issues, residents can call the free hotline 400-11-91160 ext. 2. Customer service is provided from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.