Health literacy of citizens is not only about the medical knowledge and capacity of individuals but also related to the complexity of various health contexts, such as healthcare system, education system, social and cultural factors The paper discusses information technology (IT) applications to promote health literacy of citizens, concentrating on health information related network application, patient-oriented function support of hospital information system, personal health records (PHR) development and related supporting countermeasures of the US government It also puts forward related advices on Chinese citizens′ health literacy problems