Chinese Premier Pledges to Improve SARS Control

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Chinese Premier Pledges to Improve SARS Control

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said that China will continue carrying out effective measures against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said that China will continue carrying out effective measures against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Wen told a national meeting on fighting against SARS on April 13 that China is facing a great challenge to combat SARS but the State Council is treating it as a priority in its work and the country will try its best to control the disease.

China will make every effort to prevent SARS from spreading, especially into rural areas, the premier said when delivering a speech at the meeting calling for redoubled efforts to combat SARS.

Rigid measures have been taken to monitor the situation of SARS and to prevent and treat the disease in the SARS-hit areas, while in the areas in which SARS has not been found the prevention work has been greatly improved, he added.

Governments at various levels and all localities are required to report and release the situation on the disease in an accurate, timely and honest manner, and are forbidden to withhold the information, he stressed.

Anyone who covers up SARS cases or delays the release of information will be harshly punished, he added.

Strict disinfecting work has been imposed on airplanes, trains, ships and buses, Wen said.

Large and medium-sized cities and cities along major railways, highways and waterways and receiving a large number of passengers by air will be equipped with medical workers and equipment against SARS, he said.

The government will give assistance to SARS patients who are unable to afford the medical treatment, Wen said.

More hospitals will open to SARS patients in the SARS-hit cities, he said, adding that any hospital that is capable of treating the disease will be open to the patients and some will improve their medical conditions to receive more patients.

Not only the SARS suspects but also those having close contact with them will be asked to undergo medical examinations and keep away from others, he said.

Special efforts have been made in hospitals, schools and kindergartens to protect medical workers and children from the disease, he added.

Wen urged doctors and experts to work on new and better treatment methods for the disease and to exchange their findings and latest information in time.

He said China will improve its exchange and cooperation with other countries and international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO).

China has reported its SARS situation to the WHO every day since April 1.

The central government will try its best to support the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to fight against SARS, Wen said.

It will also join Taiwan Province in preventing and treating the disease, he added.

SARS has had a great impact on China's trade, tourism, social life and diplomacy, affecting people's health and safety as well as social stability, Wen said.

The country has realized the weakness in its public health system and decided to build a national fast-acting mechanism to deal with emergencies in public health, he added.

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