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| China to restructure public healthcare system |
| CCTV.COM 2003-05-31 09:05:06 |
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 China says it will increase funding to restructure the public healthcare system. Executive Vice－Minister of Health Gao Qiang pledged this at a press conference on Friday. He said the most important restructuring projects would be completed within two years.
The vice minister revealed that China is to establish state and local centers of disease control by the end of next year and train skillful, well－equipped teams of medical experts within the same time period.
Gao Qiang said China had allocated 2.9 billion yuan （about 362 million US dollars） and 1.7 billion yuan, respectively, to set up local and national disease control centers. He said most of the additional funding would be used to restructure and purchase facilities for rural hospitals and clinics. Meanwhile, he called for global efforts to conquer SARS.
"The campaign to fight SARS faces two main tasks: developing a medicine through the joint efforts of Chinese and foreign scientists, and taking strict prevention measures and isolating SARS patients and suspected cases. Only when satisfactory results are achieved on both fronts, can we declare our fight against SARS a success," said Gao Qiang.
The vice minister said the Chinese mainland was urging Taiwan authorities to take more concrete measures to fight SARS. He said the Chinese mainland had plans to send protective materials, such as gloves, masks and shoe－covers to Taiwan and was preparing to send a team of some of its most experienced and knowledgeable medical experts to Taiwan.
Gao Qiang also confirmed at the press conference that an AIDS patient on the Chinese mainland had been infected with SARS. He said the AIDS patient, who was from Shanxi Province, was diagnosed as a probable SARS patient last Saturday in Beijing's You'an Hospital.
He said that no evidence had been found showing that recovered SARS patients could transmit the disease to others and that the Chinese Ministry of Labor and Social Security has issued regulations, protecting the legal rights of SARS patients.
Regarding the relationship between SARS prevention and economic development, the vice minister said the Chinese government will not ignore the prevention and control of SARS because of its focus on economic development. At the same time, economic construction can't be stopped because of the epidemic, he said.
Gao Qiang also made it clear that there's still a long way to go in the fight against SARS.
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Editor: Han Ling CCTV.com
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