The Shanghai Municipal Health Commission and Shanghai Health Promotion Center released the latest monitoring of citizens' health literacy (referred to as literacy monitoring) on the 13th. The monitoring results in 2024 show that the health literacy level of Shanghai residents has reached 42.09%, setting a new historical high and achieving a 17 year "continuous improvement". At the same time, the adult smoking rate in Shanghai has been declining for 13 consecutive years. Literacy monitoring shows that the correct concept of seeking medical treatment among the residents of Shanghai has significantly increased. 79.48% of residents hold the correct attitude towards seeking medical treatment, believing that not all diseases can be cured, and that birth, aging, illness, and death are objective laws that require a rational view of diagnosis and treatment results. The proportion of people has increased by 3.51 percentage points compared to the previous year. 76.71% of residents were able to choose hospitals correctly based on the severity of their condition and treatment stage, an increase of 3.11 percentage points from the previous year. It is reported that health literacy refers to an individual's ability to acquire, understand, and process basic health information and services, and use these information and services to make correct judgments and decisions, maintain and promote health. It includes "three aspects" (basic knowledge and concepts, healthy lifestyle and behavior, health skills) and "six dimensions" (scientific health concept, infectious disease prevention and control, chronic disease prevention and control, basic medical care, safety and first aid, and health information). Since 2008, China has been conducting nationwide monitoring of residents' health literacy. Shanghai has expanded the monitoring scope based on the national requirements for monitoring points according to the unified methods of questionnaires, surveys, and analysis, and has continuously carried out monitoring. In 2024, Shanghai surveyed tens of thousands of urban and rural residents aged 15 to 69, covering 16 districts throughout the city. In this literacy monitoring, the health literacy of various groups has steadily improved, and the gap between urban and rural residents has further narrowed. Compared with 2023, the health literacy level of urban and rural residents has improved, with a larger increase in rural residents, from 30.08% to 36.41%, an increase of 6.33 percentage points. The gap with urban residents has decreased from 11.6 percentage points to 6.25 percentage points. The "three aspects" of health literacy have been comprehensively improved, and all six dimensions except for infectious disease prevention and control literacy have been improved. Literacy monitoring shows that residents' awareness and ability in self health management have further improved. 61.30% of residents have mastered the method of judging BMI (body mass index), 73.14% of residents understand the ways to control weight, 64.47% of residents have mastered the knowledge of self testing blood pressure, and 70.78% of residents are aware of early warning signs of cancer. It is reported that in the next step, the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission and the Shanghai Health Promotion Center will work together with relevant departments to vigorously implement the action of improving health literacy, increase the efforts of health promotion in key areas and key populations, and make up for the shortcomings: on the one hand, it is to empower with digital intelligence, and on the other hand, it is to implement refined policies. Shanghai will enrich and optimize the expert and resource databases of Shanghai, gradually form a specialized knowledge system, strengthen the creation and extensive collection of high-quality health science popularization resources, enhance the construction of health science popularization knowledge release and dissemination mechanisms, develop health science popularization theme toolkits, and gradually realize the pilot application of science popularization resource libraries in grassroots communities; Establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism for health science popularization information, and explore the analysis of health hotspots across the entire network. In terms of refined policy implementation, Shanghai will further enhance the precision and effectiveness of health literacy intervention strategies, closely focusing on the key items of "Chinese Citizens' Health Literacy - Basic Knowledge and Skills (2024 Edition)", and carry out targeted health education interventions for people with weak health literacy, weak areas, etc; Carry out health behavior monitoring, implement precise behavioral interventions, and continuously promote the development of healthy behavior and lifestyle among the public. At the same time, Shanghai will strengthen the construction of a health supportive environment, deepen the creation of health towns and the integration of health towns, and expand the coverage of health facilities. (New Society)