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| WHO: SARS spurs China to improve public health |
| CCTV.COM 2003-05-14 09:05:42 |
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A team of inspectors from the World Health Organization has announced the results of a field trip to Hebei Province that was aimed at investigating anti－SARS measures in rural China. The team issued the findings on Tuesday in Beijing.
World Health Organization experts have also expressed their confidence in SARS statistics provided by China. Henk Bekedam, the WHO representative in China, said that the WHO team in China was using the same database as China's health departments. Daniel Chin, another WHO expert, also confirmed that the WHO expert team has access to any information in China's health departments, stressing that there was no reason to suspect that China was fabricating the SARS statistics.
It was the first time that WHO officials have made a field inspection of the prevention and control of SARS in any of China's rural areas. One of the inspectors said that almost everyone in the province was aware of SARS and knew that fever is the first symptom of the disease. Dr. James Maguire, who joined the inspection team, said he was impressed with the unique system in the rural areas of the province.
The World Health Organization commended China's increasing commitment to resolve the SARS crisis and the government's efforts to mobilize all sections of the society to contain further spread of the disease. The WHO said the SARS crisis was a good wake－up call for China to improve its public health system.
Though the number of SARS cases is coming down in Beijing, WHO experts say it's still too early to say the epidemic is declining, and there is as yet no evidence that the disease will disappear quickly.
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Editor: Inner Wu CCTV.com
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