The Chinese government on Wednesday published a newly-issued
Statute on Prevention and Control of Schistosomiasis, commonly
known as snail fever, vowing to beef up efforts to fight the
disease.
The statute, approved by the State Council on March 22, will
take effect from May 1.
Eliminating the freshwater snail that carries the disease is one
of the major substantial measures to control schistosomiasis, as it
is the intermediate host of the blood fluke, which causes the
disease, according to the statute.
Officials detected 10.58 million square meters of new snail
habitats in 2005, up 0.44 percent over 2004 when China had 3.85
billion square meters of snail habitats, according to figures from
the Ministry of Health.
The statute underlined the urgent need for better treatment of
human and animal waste, as this was a key transmission channel.
Water supply systems and toilets in rural areas should be
renovated to make sure fluke eggs were eradicated. Fishermen should
be provided with basic preventive medicine, boats should have
septic tanks, and sanitary toilets should be built on river and
lake banks, requires the statute.
Livestock should be kept in enclosures in affected areas and
livestock is banned from known snail habitat areas. Stock waste is
required to be treated before being discharged, it says.
Local authorities relying on a common water system or in
isolated regions should coordinate both prevention plans and
control measures, said an official in charge of the Legislative
Affairs Office under the State Council, or the central
government.
The central government would offer financial supports to the
underdeveloped regions as well as major prevention and control
projects, while local governments should allocate funds to fight
the disease, the official said.
Basic preventive medicine must be provided free to rural
farmers, and preferable healthcare rates should be available for
other affected groups, including needy farmers, workers who
contract the disease through injuries at work, citizens who enjoy
urban medical insurance and people infected in flood control.
Free examination and treatment and free basic preventive
medicine must also be given to livestock, according to the
official.
Schistosomiasis affects 74 countries and regions, most of which
are underdeveloped, with approximately 200 million people infected
and the total affected population amounting to 600 million.
China has 12 high-prevalence provinces and regions of
schistosomiasis in and south of the Yangtze River, the country's
longest river. Records of the disease date back more than 2,100
years.
The epidemic has been hard to control in the past owing to poor
waste treatment in fields, rural latrines and fishing boats and
waters. Schistosomiasis is a wasting disease causing blood loss and
tissue damage.
By the end of 2005, China had spent 19.5 billion yuan (some
US$2.4 billion) in renovating rural toilets, according to the
Ministry of Health.
(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2006)