Ningbo residents get increasingly health literate

The health literacy level of residents in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province was 39.47 percent in 2022, up 2.17 percentage points higher than that of the previous year, according to a survey conducted by the Ningbo Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The result means that 39 out of every 100 people in the city are health literate, according to the survey which polled 6,400 people aged between 15 and 69.

Health literacy refers to the ability of individuals to access and understand basic health information and services and use them to make correct decisions to maintain and improve their health. It is also widely considered an important measure of a place's economic and social development level.

People aged between 15 and 34 have the highest health literacy level, and the health literacy level has a positive correlation with education levels, said the survey.

Rural residents from Ningbo are becoming more health literate, too. The health literacy level of local rural residents grew from 31.29 percent in 2020 to 39.74 percent in 2022.

The literacy level of infectious disease prevention and control among the surveyed increased by 2.48 percentage points when compared with 2020. The proportion of respondents that are aware of methods to prevent influenza, the transmission mode of hepatitis B, the importance of window ventilation during influenza season, and vaccination contraindications are all above 60 percent of the total.

Over the same period, the literacy level of chronic disease prevention and control also grew significantly, climbing from 36.15 percent to 43.27 percent.