BEIJING -- China will send 44 national medical teams to provide services in its central and western regions annually beginning this year, more than doubling the number from last year, according to the National Health Commission.

The teams, each consisting of at least five members, will work in 17 provincial-level regions including Xinjiang and Xizang for no less than three weeks, the commission said.

Priority will be given to the previously-disadvantaged, remote areas, areas with significant ethnic minority populations or areas with weaker medical capacity, it noted.

Their services will include disease diagnosis and treatment, health education, medical staff training, guidance on clinical techniques and the establishment of telemedicine networks.

This initiative focuses on ensuring quality medical services are made more accessible to people in the regions, the commission said.

In 2011, China sent the first batch of 19 national medical teams to assist underdeveloped areas in 18 provincial-level regions.

By the end of 2023, a total of 199 teams with more than 1,300 medical personnel had participated in the program, the commission said.