A key research group striving to find new medicines to combat SARS has made several important findings, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Thousands of scientists have joined the National Group for Crucial Technological Findings for Fighting Against SARS, which is racing against time to build up a bank of knowledge on the killer disease, Wednesday's China Daily quoted the ministry as saying.
The group, a subsidiary of the National Task Force for SARS Prevention and Control under the State Council, has recruited from the ministries of health and science and technology, the State Food and Drug Administration, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Military Academy of Medical Science.
It's focusing on research of medicines, clinical trials, protection tools and international cooperation for SARS treatment and prevention.
Medical experts from across the country will work together to find new methods of fighting SARS and help different regions share research findings, said Li Xueyong, vice minister of science and technology.
The group is in urgent pursuit of technologies that can cure SARS patients, greatly reduce death rates and efficiently control the spread of SARS, Li said.
Li said a total of 108 million yuan (US$13 million) has been injected into 85 scientific projects to help anti-SARS work.
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2003)
