BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Here are the highlights of China's health news from the past week:

-- China's medical insurance pays out COVID-19 costs

China's medical insurance has covered 1.232 billion yuan (about 176 million U.S. dollars) of the treatment cost of COVID-19 patients by July 19, accounting for 67 percent of the total cost.

During the period, medical bills of 135,500 inpatients, confirmed or suspected, were settled by medical insurance, said Xiong Xianjun, an official with China's National Healthcare Security Administration.

After the outbreak of COVID-19, authorities adjusted medical insurance policies to enable COVID-19 patients to get treatment with delayed settlement of accounts.

-- Chinese hospitals offer free screening for hepatitis

A campaign providing free screening for hepatitis was initiated Tuesday in 126 cities and poor rural areas across China.

The campaign echoes the theme of this year's World Hepatitis Day, which reads "Finding the Missing Millions," said the organizers, which include medlinker.com, a Chinese online platform for chronic disease management, and China Liver Health, a non-profit organization promoting liver health.

-- Precautions, accessibility highlighted in China's healthcare system reform

China will continue its efforts in deepening reform of the medicine and healthcare system in the second half of the year, and measures to prevent diseases and promote medical service accessibility will be among the key focus.

The General Office of the State Council has issued a circular highlighting the major tasks of the reform for the second half of the year. The circular called for exercising more precautions to prevent diseases, adding that the primary goal is to ensure people's health rather than simply treating diseases. Enditem

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