History of Vaccination in China: Modern Stage

The history of vaccination in China is an unexamined area in research into the general history of Chinese healthcare, which, in turn, has also been little studied in Russian historical science. The article is devoted to the history of health care in the field of prevention of vaccinepreventable diseases in modern China. In the 21st century, in order to carry out a large-scale immunization program for the Chinese population, the fight against epidemics of infectious diseases required skill and talented political will to organize united actions of the Chinese authorities and society. Since the beginning of the century, during the implementation of the National Immunization Program in the PRC, the central government revised the existing legislation, adopted new laws, created a subsidized fund, the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme, and formed the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, whose tasks include comprehensive collection and evaluation of scientific data. China became one of the first countries to join the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. Based on the analysis of statistical data, the author shows that the development of preventive immunization in China ultimately not only improved the overall health of Chinese citizens, but also contributed to the progress of public health throughout the world. It is noted that the level and scale of domestic vaccine development play an indispensable role in the ability to respond to emergency situations. The PRC has made considerable efforts to strengthen its influence in various regions of the globe with the help of its vaccines. It is a great achievement that China is able to effectively develop its National Immunization Program, greatly increasing the speed and quality of vaccine development, as well as control measures for produced vaccines, both at the legislative and technological level, especially in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The article uses scientific research materials from Chinese and other foreign scientists published in monographs and scientific journals, as well as information from official Chinese sources.