of the State Council convened a conference in Beijing on July 2, aiming to promote poverty alleviation and improve access to .

Liu Yongfu, director of the office, said: "We will give priority to five main tasks in the future, namely, ensuring the effective implementation of a major disease guarantee system, providing contracted medical services to those suffering from chronic diseases, strengthening prevention and treatment of endemics diseases, raising funds for the poverty alleviation campaigns, and improving people's health conditions."

"The office will work with the National Health Commission (NHC) to promote a charity campaign to give vision recovery operations to cataract patients.

"To relieve their financial burden, we will resort to China Poverty-Alleviation Promotion of Volunteer Services group in Beijing and other poverty alleviation websites to raise funds," he added.

"Local departments should earnestly organize fund-raising initiatives, strengthen publicity and lead more entities and individuals to donate money.

"For the next move, the Office will work with the NHC and the Ministry of Education in a bid to correct children's poor vision," he concluded.

(Source: China Women's News / Translated and edited by )