Talking challenges

Horton has his own insights about the many challenges that China's health system faces at present.

According to him, the Lancet has received letters from Chinese doctors reporting incidents of violence against them and describing the pressures they were under. He has compared the problem to "growing pains" that a child experiences while growing up rapidly.

"China has become a very successful nation, taking hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in a short period of time. That is a huge leap," he says.

"The result is, it's very hard for the government and health professionals to meet the huge expectations of the public immediately. It's causing pain and this is a real challenge."

Horton has paid attention to other problems including the health system's heavy dependence on hospitals instead of primary healthcare, public health problems like smoking and pollution.

He believes these challenges can be resolved only by government actions, and the next Five-year Plan recently released can be a good opportunity for that.

In the past, Horton and his Chinese colleagues have held workshops in China to train medical professionals on writing research papers and publishing them in foreign journals.

"It's a great privilege for me to meet Premier Li Keqiang and hear his words. I was very moved by his emphasis on the importance of collaboration and his invitation to international friends to work with Chinese colleagues and support the nation's development," Horton says of the time he received the Friendship Award from Li.

Besides continuing the journal's writings on China and holding the joint annual conference, Horton says his organization looks forward to further collaboration with leading Chinese universities and hospitals.

"Our focus in the past has been very much on Beijing and Shanghai. We have to lift our eyes and look across the country now," Horton says.

Although it's been mostly work in China for this frequent international traveler, he has developed a taste for the local cuisines and liquor.

"I'd love to understand more about Chinese culture in the future."