BEIJING — China's health authorities have rolled out a set of standards and specifications for promoting the application of IT in the public health sector to improve the emergency response mechanism for major epidemics.

The document was jointly issued by the National Health Commission and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine for trial implementation.

It clarified the public health service management and IT capacity building of public health institutions including disease prevention and control centers, hospitals and primary-level medical institutions.

It stipulated the standards and specifications for public health services in 18 categories, including infectious diseases, parasitic diseases, immunization programs and chronic diseases, as well as for IT capacity in information platforms, information security and the application of emerging technology.