BEIJING -- Activities were held and promotion videos released for the celebrations of China's first Medical Workers' Day, which falls on Sunday, to call for respect from society for the country's 11.7 million medical and health workers.

The State Council last year approved an application from the health authorities on designating Aug 19 every year as the country's Medical Workers' Day.

Zhang Yanling, president of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, said the day will be remembered as a milestone in the history of China's health cause and the country's doctors.

He also expected activities to observe the day may promote the professional spirit and ethnics among the medical workers.

Yao Yufeng, a prestigious Chinese ophthalmologist, sees the celebration of the Medical Workers' Day as a "special glory" bestowed by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people.

He said that he and his colleagues are inspired to carry forward the life-saving spirit and break new ground in medical field.

"The profession of medicine serves the fundamental and ultimate interests of human being, and the medical workers... must be fully aware of this," Wang Chen, president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Peking Union Medical College, said last month at the graduation ceremony for this year's graduates.

Wang Yimin, a 32-year-old respiratory physician, agreed. "We will take the baton from our predecessors and carry on our duties."

The report at the 19th CPC National Congress pledged to carry out the Healthy China initiative, which includes measures to improve community-level healthcare services and strengthen the ranks of general practitioners.