Gao Qiang, Chinese vice minister of health, on Friday expressed hope for an early victory in the fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
"We can not declare success against SARS before a vaccine and medicines against the disease are discovered," Gao said.
Gao said that the SARS campaign faced two main tasks: developing a medicine through joint efforts of Chinese and foreign scientists on the one hand, and taking strict prevention measures and isolating SARS cases on the other.
"Only when satisfactory results are achieved in both fronts, can we declare success against SARS," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2003)
