Southwest China's Chongqing municipality plans to establish at least one pneumoconiosis rehabilitation center in every district and county by the end of 2020, according to the municipal health commission.

The rehabilitation centers are required to be equipped with rehabilitation training equipment, professional doctors and nurses, medical files, and a system to specify responsibilities, according to the commission.

"It's impossible for patients to go to large-scale hospitals every time. With the treatment and rehabilitation equipment at the centers, it will be more convenient for them to recover," said Zhang Guangwen, director of a health center in Miaoba township in Chongqing.

China has issued an action plan on the prevention and treatment of pneumoconiosis, vowing to fulfill the plan's targets by the end of 2020.

Pneumoconiosis, a class of lung diseases where inhalation of dust causes interstitial fibrosis, accounts for nearly 90 percent of all occupational disease cases in the country, said Li Bin, deputy head of China's National Health Commission, adding that the action plan aims to reduce the number of new pneumoconiosis patients.

Resource: Xinhua Net