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| WHO upbeat about SARS campaign |
| CCTV.COM 2003-06-13 09:06:28 |
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 The United Nations' top expert on infectious diseases says he's impressed with China's efforts to combat SARS. He delivered the assessment at the first press conference jointly held by the World Health Organization and the Chinese Ministry of Health. For its part, China has pledged to do more to improve the nation's public health system.
David Heymann is the executive director the WHO's Communicable Diseases section and he's in Beijing for two days to see how China is handling the SARS outbreak. He says China's intense efforts to contain the disease have strengthened global solidarity to eventually overcome it. Heymann also maintains that data provided by several hardest－hit provinces are informative, complete and reflect the massive efforts behind them.
For seven consecutive days, there have been no new reported cases of SARS in Beijing. And for more than two weeks, the number of new cases of the disease nationwide has been less than 10.
Heymann says that although there is no standardized case definition, China's is compatible with the WHO's.
Health Ministry Executive Vice Minister Gao Qiang says that despite the decline in the incidence of SARS, this is not the end of the crisis. Instead, it's just the beginning of a long march towards a sound public health system capable of handling similar emergencies.
"Public health administration is crucial to ensuring people's welfare. The outbreak of SARS has prompted us to realize it's imperative to improve China's ability to respond to emergencies and upgrade basic facilities to treat communicable diseases. The WHO suggests we set up a national database for SARS and other infectious diseases. We have accepted it and will soon put it into practice," said Gao Qiang.
Gao Qiang has also suggested that China could work with the WHO in a much broader way, including infectious disease research and personnel training.
Heymann isn't saying when the WHO will lift its travel advisory against Beijing and other Chinese provinces. WHO experts will forward China's data and their own report to the WHO director general for her to make the decision.
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Editor: Han Ling CCTV.com
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