Beijing Acting Mayor, WHO Representative Discuss SARS Control

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, May 09, 2003

Beijing Acting Mayor, WHO Representative Discuss SARS Control

Beijing's fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) will, in the next step, focus on the treatment, prevention and control of the disease, said Acting Mayor Wang Qishan Thursday.

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Beijing's fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) will, in the next step, focus on the treatment, prevention and control of the disease, said Acting Mayor Wang Qishan Thursday.

At a meeting with Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in China, Wang said the fight against SARS hasto date focused on hospitalizing as many patients as possible, adding that public panic has been effectively reduced through the measures.

The ratio of hospital beds to patients has greatly improved in Beijing, Wang said, noting that there will be an additional 2,000 beds designated for SARS patients within the next 10 days.

With the help of the central government, Beijing has not only guaranteed the supply of materials, stabilized prices and established a new hospital for SARS treatment, but has also established criteria for diagnosis and medical staff protection, in addition to the formation of an epidemiological research group of substantial scale, Wang said.

The municipal government has also united residents and urged them to participate in the control of the disease, disseminating SARS prevention information through various channels, Wang said, adding that the new SARS hot line, "the 120," is adequate to meet demands.

Bekedam said that he appreciates Beijing's anti-SARS measures and suggested that the city improve its capacity to collect, process and analyze SARS-related information so that WHO experts can offer more effective assistance.

The WHO is eager to offer assistance in data analysis and otheraspects, he said.

Wang and Bekedam also agreed to have two to three WHO experts work in the municipal government's special anti-SARS office to help improve the current mode of information compilation, reporting and analysis.

WHO experts begin SARS inspection in N. China province

A World Health Organization (WHO) expert team Thursday began an inspection of Hebei Province toassess the prevention and control of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

James Maguire and three WHO experts arrived in Baoding City, the first leg of their tour, Thursday morning. About 140 km away from Beijing, Baoding is home to some 200,000 of Beijing's "floating population" of migrant workers.

As of 3:00 p.m. Thursday, the city had reported 29 probable SARS cases, five suspected cases and six discharges. No medical staff in the city have been infected with SARS.

The WHO expert team listened to reports from the city government on the status of the SARS epidemic upon arrival.

In the afternoon, Maguire visited the local epidemic control center, learning about the formation and operation of the city's disease monitoring and reporting network, and some SARS cases.

Maguire noticed a tree-map of probable and suspected SARS casesdisplayed in the center, which provided information on patients and their inter-relationships.

"I think it's wonderful, it's very nice," he said, and asked his companions to take a picture of the graph.

Meanwhile, another three WHO experts visited the city's epidemic hospital where all the probable and suspected SARS patients in Baoding receive medical treatment.

After completing inspections of the epidemic control center, Maguire joined the experts in the epidemic hospital.

While the director of the hospital was making introductions, a batch of exam papers caught Maguire's attention. Aware that all medical staff working in SARS wards must first pass written and practical exams, he asked his translator to translate all the questions and answers on the paper to him.

"Due to stringent prevention measures, to date, Baoding has seen no outbreak of the SARS epidemic," said respiratory disease expert Fan Fengping, who is also a member of the city's SARS expert team.

"But we are making preparations, just in case," said Yang Man, director of the SARS prevention office under the supervision of the city's epidemic center.

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