Xia Gang, the Director of the Health Immunization Division of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has been promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
On December 19, the website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced the personnel changes of national officials by the State Council. Xia Gang has been appointed as the Deputy Director of the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration (hereinafter referred to as “National CDC”), while Chang Jile has been removed from the position of Deputy Director of the National CDC.
Prior to this appointment, Xia Gang served as the Director of the Department of Health and Immunization Planning within the National CDC. Public information shows that Xia Gang has worked extensively within the health and wellness system. He has previously held positions such as Deputy Director of the Disease Control Bureau of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Deputy Director of the Disease Control Bureau of the National Health Commission, and Deputy Director of the Health Commission of the Tibet Autonomous Region, having assumed the role of Director of the Health and Immunization Planning Department at the National CDC no later than 2022.
The Department of Health and Immunization Planning at the National CDC is responsible for drafting the national immunization plan and organizing its implementation; establishing the preventive vaccination service system and its information system; evaluating the immunization effectiveness against infectious diseases; guiding efforts to control parasitic and endemic diseases; formulating policies for environmental sanitation, school health, public place health, and drinking water sanitation management, and guiding their implementation; and devising prevention measures related to accidental injuries.
The National CDC was officially established in May 2021. It is a national bureau managed by the National Health Commission, positioned at the vice-ministerial level. Chang Jile, the former Director of the Disease Control Bureau of the National Health Commission, was appointed as the Deputy Director of the newly established National CDC at that time.
