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China to Strengthen Fight Against Tuberculosis
A senior health official said here Thursday that China will set up an efficient and ongoing medical system to fight against tuberculosis, aiming to cure four million tuberculosis patients by 2010.
Yin Dakui, vice minister of health, made the statement at a national meeting of anti-phtisis being hosted in this capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province.
According to the official, China is one of 22 countries in the world which suffer from severe tuberculosis. The latest statistics show that there are five million tuberculosis patients, accounting for 56 percent of the total number in the Western Pacific Region.
The Ministry of Health and some related ministries have made a ten year plan to control the disease. So far, China has used loans from the World Bank to carry out tuberculosis treatment projects among 560 million people in 13 provinces across the country.
In addition, the country will invest 40 million yuan (about 4.8 million U.S. dollars) annually to set up a special foundation to prevent and control the disease.
More than 600 domestic and overseas medical experts and scholars are attending the meeting.
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