China's National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) reiterated that the number of Chinese people with family doctors was correct at a press conference on Friday in Beijing.

Weighing in on the hot topic of Chinese people with access to a family doctor, which has generated controversy recently due to doubts about the number of Chinese people who actually have access, the Director of the General Practitioners Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Du Xueping said there's no doubt that "500 million people in China have access to family doctors" – a figure first given by an official from NHFPC on Sunday. 

Du explained that having a family doctor doesn't mean having your own private doctor. They're the people who are responsible for front-line service, and are mainly composed of general practitioners, doctors from township health departments, or rural doctors, and usually work as a team to help people.

This kind of service is one of the key parts of China's graded diagnosis and treatment system. Their main provision is the combination of prevention and treatment in basic medical and public health services. 

At present, the people who have access to family doctors service generally includes the elderly, children, pregnant women and the disabled. Most of the elderly residents in the communities know about the family doctors, and family doctors will soon be promoted to all residents in China on a step-by-step basis.

Officials also outlined common infectious diseases in the winter and preventive measures at the conference.

Li Zhongjie, deputy director of the Infectious Diseases Department of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the flu, measles and rubella are the most common winter respiratory infectious diseases in China. They are usually spread via saliva, air and physical contact. The most effective method of prevention is vaccination, but people can take other precautions, such as maintaining cleanliness by washing hands, keeping indoor areas clean and ventilated, and avoiding crowded places.