China's meteorologists and health workers are to cooperate in climate-related public health emergencies such as heat stroke, dehydration and carbon monoxide poisoning. 

On Wednesday the Ministry of Health and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) signed an agreement to construct a cooperative mechanism to improve public health systems.

Meteorologists will monitor climate changes which could trigger public health emergencies, share the information with health workers and issue public warnings through the media.

CMA Director Qi Dahe said at the signing ceremony that his administration would speed up the establishment of a "real time" public health and meteorological warning system. The cooperative arrangement with the Ministry of Health showed that public health meteorology had entered a new phase, he observed.

Meteorologists and health workers will also study the relationship between climate and outbreaks of diseases such as bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

The SARS outbreak in 2003 revealed inadequacies in the public health system and it was imperative for improvements to be made, said Vice Minister of Health Wang Longde.

Climate changes triggered several mass carbon monoxide poisoning incidents in Anhui, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces between February 13-15 this year leaving 477 ill and 31 dead. 

(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2003)