Gao Fu, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is calling for greater decision-making autonomy and less obstruction from the national health administration system, China Youth Daily reported Wednesday.

Specifically, Gao suggested that the authorities should yield decision-making power to disease control institutions and reduce the degree of micromanagement of these institutions by local and provincial health departments.

“(We must) explore and establish a mechanism for reporting public health work and important issues directly to the responsible government leaders, and for releasing epidemic information directly, as soon as it’s authorized by the government,” he said.

Gao added that the COVID-19 outbreak had exposed deficiencies in China’s outbreak control and prevention system. As the nominal driving force behind such work, the China CDC had failed to fulfill its responsibility to provide early warning and monitoring, epidemiological investigation, relevant policy proposals, and effective outbreak control and prevention measures.

The China CDC has “unequal power and responsibility,” Gao said, “resulting in a disconnect between administrative decisions and technical strategies.” China CDC experts do not play a sufficiently prominent role in the decision-making process when it comes to dealing with public health emergencies like COVID-19, he suggested.

Gao’s proposal was put forward at the “two sessions” — high-profile annual meetings of China’s top legislative and political advisory bodies — which conclude Thursday in Beijing. (Image: People Visual)