The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health jointly issued a
notice on Tuesday promising that local authorities will pay medical
charges for
SARS
patients from rural areas and impoverished urban families.
According to the directive, the central government will give
subsidies to local governments of economically constrained western
provinces and autonomous regions in an attempt to share the burden
of SARS treatment cost.
The two ministries also urged intensified supervision of the
epidemic in the country's vast rural areas, saying that stringent
measures would be taken to identify and control the SARS epidemic
in the countryside.
Meanwhile, medical organizations at all levels would be required to
accept SARS patients from rural areas without delay.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2003)