2. Chairman Mao pointed out that the health work force is very large, with state health workers alone numbering over 200,000. They are responsible for the birth, aging, illness, and death of a population of over 500 million. This is truly a great undertaking, extremely important. Therefore, our responsibility is very heavy.

3. Chairman Mao stated that while significant achievements have been made in national health work over the past few years, there are also many and serious shortcomings. He pointed out that the greatest shortcoming in health work is the lack of politics, insufficient political work, and too little Marxism-Leninism and socialism.

Is there too much technical expertise? Not necessarily. Many problems in medical treatment and disease management remain unresolved. Precisely because politics is lacking, technical matters are also poorly managed.

Chairman Mao most emphatically stressed that the Party must lead everything and must lead health work. He said, "Leading comrades in the Party Committee of the Ministry of Health believe that health work is a specialized technical field, that the Central Committee does not understand technology, and that even if problems they cannot solve are reported to the Central Committee, there may be no solutions. Consequently, many major issues have not been submitted for instructions or reports. They also believe that the Culture and Education Committee is a cultural institution full of intellectuals who do not understand medicine," and therefore, "there is a sentiment of insufficient respect for the leadership of the Culture and Education Committee." These ideas are entirely wrong. Chairman Mao said that by this logic, Commander-in-Chief × could not serve as the commander-in-chief of the navy, army, and air force because he cannot drive a tank, pilot an airplane, or fire artillery! Yet Commander-in-Chief × is fully capable of serving as commander-in-chief because we use politics to lead the military. Chairman Mao said, "The notion that 'if you don’t understand this field, you can’t manage me' is quite widespread, and not only in the health sector. In our military, the issue of military affairs not submitting to political leadership was resolved only after a long struggle. The health sector must exert its utmost effort to resolve this problem."

Our Party must lead everything: it must lead aircraft and artillery, lead the roles of sheng, dan, jing, and chou in opera, and lead birth, aging, illness, and death. That is to say, it must lead military, economic, cultural, educational, health, and all other work. The Party must lead in any specialized field. For example, in opera, the Party must also lead. Chairman Mao said, ××× performs opera very well, but he only performs dan roles and does not perform sheng, jing, or chou roles. Among dan roles, he only performs qingyi and does not perform others. He is highly specialized. He cannot lead other fields. If he were to become chairman, he would not do well. But our Party leads him and guides the development and improvement of theatrical art.

What do we rely on to lead? Chairman Mao said we must use politics to lead. Leadership is first and foremost political leadership, and leadership work is political work. Without politics, there can be no talk of leadership. Those serving as ministers of health hold positions that involve leadership work, which is also political work. Chairman Mao criticized the previous division of labor among several deputy ministers of the Ministry of Health, where some were in charge of politics and others in charge of professional work, calling this approach erroneous. In old China, bureaucrats had distinctions between so-called administrative officials and military officials. Here, it is not and cannot be like that. All leaders must exercise political leadership. If a leader only focuses on technical matters, only remembers techniques, and only concerns themselves with subcutaneous or intramuscular injections, politics will inevitably be squeezed out, and there will be no political leadership. Those engaged in leadership work must all understand Party work and mass work; they must never confine themselves to medical affairs while neglecting political work.

Health work must be subject to Party leadership and must never deviate from Party leadership to establish an independent kingdom. Chairman Mao asked Premier Zhou whether many important documents from the Ministry of Health had been approved by the Government Administration Council. Premier Zhou replied that there were very few. Chairman Mao said, "They are an independent kingdom and refuse to be governed by you!"

4. Chairman Mao also emphatically criticized the Ministry of Health for lacking collective leadership and provided instructions on how collective leadership should be exercised. He said that Comrade ×× is proactive and responsible, meaning the backbone is sound. However, working alone and blindly is not good. Blind work means neglecting Party leadership and the political leadership over professional work. Working alone means rejecting collective leadership. As everyone knows, collective leadership is the highest principle of our Party’s leadership. In his self-criticism, Comrade ×× admitted that on many important issues, decisions were often made individually without thorough organizational discussion, acting arbitrarily and autocratically. Chairman Mao pointed out that this style of working alone will lead to mishandling affairs and isolate oneself. This cannot be described as a strong personality; it is not true strength but weakness. Chairman Mao instructed that as a leader, one must patiently consult with others on issues, discuss matters with the masses, and consult with the upper, middle, and lower levels. Believing oneself to be entirely correct is completely unworkable. A leader must reason clearly and be persuasive; only then can one be considered truly strong. Party group meetings must be carefully prepared, humbly solicit everyone’s opinions, and learn from the Central Committee’s methods of conducting meetings.

5. Chairman Mao emphatically pointed out that there is a strong bourgeois ideology among leading personnel in our medical departments, manifested specifically in the unwillingness to accept Party leadership, a lack of political awareness, weak mass perspectives, and the rejection of collective leadership. This bourgeois ideology is quite prevalent among the national health workforce, and we must criticize it.

6. After the inspection of the Central Ministry of Health’s work, some changes have begun to occur. However, comrades still lack confidence, and this requires, first and foremost, determination from the leadership. Chairman Mao pointed out that Comrade ×× must, of course, bear primary responsibility for the shortcomings and errors in the work of the Central Ministry of Health, but the blame cannot be placed solely on Comrade ××; other comrades must also shoulder certain responsibilities. He expressed hope for a thorough transformation in the leadership work of the Central Ministry of Health. He asked Comrade ×× whether he had such determination. Comrade ×× replied that he did. ... Chairman Mao said that the key lies in improving thinking and transforming work styles. This meeting must be conducted well to instill confidence in everyone.

7. Regarding several issues concerning professional guidelines, the Central Committee basically agreed with all the principles and tasks proposed in the report.

On the issue of traditional Chinese medicine, Chairman Mao said, "I believe that among China’s great contributions to the world, traditional Chinese medicine is one. Traditional Chinese medicine developed on the basis of agriculture and handicrafts. Western medicine developed on the basis of modern industry. The valuable experience of traditional Chinese medicine must be inherited and carried forward. Its irrational elements must be discarded. Western medicine also has inaccuracies and contains mechanical materialism. In the future, there will be only one medicine, which should be guided by materialist dialectics. Looking down on traditional Chinese medicine is wrong. Overpraising traditional Chinese medicine is also inappropriate. Traditional Chinese medicine hospitals can be established on a trial basis. Regarding the further training of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, it is acceptable for them to learn some basic medical knowledge, but courses on clinical experience in traditional Chinese medicine should be included. Hospitals can invite traditional Chinese medicine practitioners to treat patients, and when they achieve good results, we should learn from them. The terms 'Chinese medicine' and 'Western medicine' are inappropriate."

8. Urban and industrial-mining health services, as well as urban medical care, must undergo reform and revolution.

--- Notes

1. Regarding the key points of the Central Ministry of Health’s report to the Central Committee and the draft directive on traditional Chinese medicine work, Chairman Mao instructed that the report was very well written. He particularly pointed out that the method used to inspect the work of the Ministry of Health was excellent—holding over twenty meetings, soliciting many opinions from below, and thoroughly uncovering issues. Only in this way can problems be resolved. Relying solely on directives from above is insufficient; it is essential to rely on criticism from the bottom up. Only then can problems be resolved thoroughly and effectively. Solving problems solely from above always entails a certain degree of one-sidedness; only by combining it with criticism from the top down can perspectives become comprehensive and solutions be entirely correct. He noted that this method was employed during the National Financial and Economic Conference in the summer of this year and resolved major issues. The Culture and Education Committee also used this method to inspect the work of the Ministry of Health, with very good results. This approach should be promoted.