Introduction

摘要

When introducing the Public Health Act to the British Parliament 135 years ago, Benjamin Disraeli remarked that public health was the foundation for the "happiness of the people and the power of the country" and that "the care of the public health is the first duty of a statesman." Disraeli's advice nonetheless fell on deaf ears in the post-Mao China. As market forces overtook central planning, health became a backburner issue on the government agenda.