'People's War' Waged in Beijing to Combat SARS

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 29, 2003

'People's War' Waged in Beijing to Combat SARS

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Residents of Beijing are calmer these days due to the city government's information promotion on the prevention and treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and the government has taken the effective measures to cope with the epidemic.

Fang Fang, a resident of Beijing's eastern Chaoyang District, was a bit nervous a few weeks ago when the outbreak of the flu-like disease occurred. She stocked up on nutritious foods, drank herbal medicines and boiled vinegar to purify the air indoor, all reportedly useful measures in preventing infection.

She has now returned to her normal daily life, which includes work, going shopping at nearby vegetable markets and doing exercises, while keeping her house clean and maintaining her own personal hygiene. "The government has reassured us so that we feel at ease and more relaxed," Fang said, who received regular updates about the SARS situation in the city and the nation from comprehensive coverage in newspapers and on TV.

There has been a significant rise in the number of people wearing masks and in the preventive measures implemented by the government.

The municipality has set up a joint task force comprising officials from relevant governmental departments. The commission, headed by Liu Qi, secretary of the Beijing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), consists of four teams in charge of medical treatment, tracing, information and logistics guarantee respectively.

The principles "early discovery, early reporting, early isolation and early treatment" have been carried out to the letter and well-received by the general public.

The municipal government is releasing SARS information in a timely and regular manner. Reporting time limits have been imposed, with urban areas required to report cases within six hours and outskirt an rural areas, within 12 hours.

Top officials of districts or counties are required to sign all reports submitted to superiors and may be held accountable if data is found to be inaccurate or false.

Data collection and counting have been computerized, and lists of patients are recorded in a precise manner.

The scope of information released to the public has been expanded. The Beijing municipal government has initiated a twice weekly news conference held respectively on Tuesdays and Fridays, during which leading officials brief the media on the latest developments on SARS epidemic. Authorities make daily announcements about the number of patients hospitalized the previous day, the number of persons placed in isolation and the isolation sites.

Insiders say that the government has increased its ability to cope with emergencies as evidenced by the measures imposed. Panic buying took hold a few days ago as a result of rumors that the city would soon be isolated. Prices, however, came back down two days later as the government, defying the rumors, arranged emergency production and transport to ensure the ample supplies of daily necessities.

Liu Qi called the efforts to fight against SARS a "people's war", referring to the fact that all people and governmental departments have gotten involved. Moreover, the city government has earmarked 400 million yuan (some 48 million US dollars) to fund anti-SARS measures.

Meanwhile, Beijing has enhanced its cooperation with the World Health Organization (WTO). Acting Mayor Wang Qishan said that his government would be "open-minded and straight forward" in its cooperation with the UN health agency, which has been invited to inspect Beijing Center for Disease Control (CDC) whenever it wishes.

WHO experts conducted a seven-hour inspection of the CDC on April 27, during which they were provided with detailed information on SARS, including the number of cases, both diagnostically confirmed cases and suspected cases, and the ages and professions of patients.

Dr. Jeffrey McFarland, medical officer of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, said the figures were vital and very critical and their analysis was urgent.

The majority of the general public in the national capital of Beijing feels satisfactory with the government's efforts as indicated by a latest survey by the Beijing Statistics Bureau, which showed 78 percent of the local people cited the municipal government's measures as "appropriate" and 74 percent as "satisfactory."

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