Shenzhen had a total of 71,479 registered physicians as of Dec. 31, 2023, up 7.28% compared to 2022, according to data released by the city’s health authority yesterday, the seventh China’s Doctors’ Day.
Among them were 67,690 practicing doctors and 3,789 practicing assistant physicians. In terms of practice type, the city had 45,364 clinical physicians, 9,635 stomatologists, 3,199 public health physicians, and 13,281 traditional Chinese medicine physicians.
In addition, Shenzhen boasted 10,569 general practitioners (GPs), which accounted for 14.79% of the total number of registered physicians. By the end of 2022, the city had achieved the goal of having four GPs per 10,000 people, with an average of 5.48 GPs per 10,000 people currently.
Shenzhen has continued to improve the quality of health services. As of the end of 2023, Shenzhen had a total of 5,431 medical and health institutions, 926 community health institutions, and 159 hospitals, cumulatively offering 69,877 beds.
Last year, the city’s medical and health institutions completed more than 128.84 million medical treatments, a year-on-year increase of 24.3%. The huge contrast between 71,479 registered physicians and over 128.84 million treatments reflects the hectic daily schedules of doctors in Shenzhen, according to the health authority.
Shenzhen’s key health indicators have continued to improve and exceeded the national average, according to a white paper released earlier this month by the Healthy Shenzhen Initiative Promotion Committee Office.
The city’s maternal mortality rate was 2.69 deaths per 100,000 live births, down from 7.21 in 2022, according to the white paper. The infant mortality rate was 1.12 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023, down from 1.18 a year earlier. Both figures were lower than the national average last year, which stood at 15.1 deaths per 100,000 live births and 4.5 per 1,000 live births, respectively.
The under-five mortality rate, which refers to the number of children who die by the age of five, dropped from 1.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022 to 1.47 in 2023.
By 2025, the average life expectancy of Shenzhen residents is expected to reach 84.53 years, with three practicing (assistant) physicians per 1,000 people, according to the health authority.
First celebrated in 2018, China’s Doctors’ Day is held Aug. 19 every year to honor the country’s doctors and their contributions to society.