The central government will give full support to Hong Kong and help
the city win victory in the fight against the severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS), said Chinese President Hu Jintao
Saturday.
During an inspection tour in Guangdong Province, south China, Hu
met Tung Chee-hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Shenzhen, a port city neighboring
Hong Kong.
Hu
told Tung that the central government attached great importance to
the well-being and health of the people in Hong Kong,and was highly
concerned about Hong Kong's efforts to prevent and curb SARS.
After hearing the report of Tung on Hong Kong's social and economic
situation and the HKSAR government's major measures to deal with
SARS, Hu approved the efforts of the HKSAR government to maintain
prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and to treat, prevent and
control SARS.
Hu
asked Tung to extend his regards to SARS patients in Hong Kong and
convey his gratitude to the doctors, government workers and social
workers who had contributed to SARS prevention and control.
Hu
also hoped that the HKSAR government would give priority to the
prevention and control of SARS, mobilizing people from all works of
life to effectively prevent the spread of the disease.
The mainland and Hong Kong should join hands to summarize their
successful experience and strengthen cooperation in the fight
against SARS, said the president.
He
expressed his confidence that under the leadership of the HKSAR
government, the difficulties brought about by the disease will be
overcome with the persisting efforts of the HK people from various
circles, and the city will continue its vitality.
Work conference calls new shots on SARS control
The State Council this weekend convened a national work conference
in Beijing in a bid to mobilize more resources to fight the deadly
SARS virus. Premier Wen Jiabao said the whole country should be put
on high alert given the complexity of the issue and urgent need to
deal with the epidemic. The Chinese premier has called for utmost
efforts to keep social development well on track in face of the
difficulties.
During a keynote speech, the Chinese premier called for calm,
decisive and more scientific research to fight the deadly epidemic.
Wen Jiabao noted that the country's social and economic outlook is
promising but said that the central government was alert to the
possible consequences of the SARS epidemic.
He
warned that nobody should take chances in dealing with the epidemic
as the control and future prevention of the disease are important
to China's interests. He said that the response to SARS could
influence the international community's wider perception of
China.
He
urged the whole country to mobilize to fight the virus and listed
six priorities for future SARS-related work. They included disease
control, prevention, medical research, timely treatment, national
contingency planning and international cooperation.
Premier Wen Jiabao also said that good leadership and cooperation
between the relevant government agencies was essential to the fight
against the SARS virus.
Health officials from Guangdong province, which has reported the
most SARS cases in China, and their counterparts from Shanghai
briefed the gathering on SARS control and prevention work in their
local areas.
Greater efforts urged to identify cause of SARS
The Chinese Ministry of Health urged medical research institutions
at the local level to strengthen their efforts on the study of
aetiology to identify the real cause of atypical pneumonia, known
as SARS. For this purpose, a leading group on the prevention and
control of SARS under the ministry has designated a special team to
coordinate this national endeavor.
The leading group will coordinate the SARS investigation by
aetiology research institutions at various levels in the light of
overall national research needs and the progress of related
nationwide work, as well as the competence of the individual
institutions.
These institutions will report their research results to the
leading group, which will be the only body in the country
authorized to publicize relevant results.
So
far, the research on the cause of SARS in China has achieved phased
progress and helped a lot with the prevention and control of the
disease.
In
a further effort to prevent and control SARS, China has officially
listed SARS as a major contagious disease. The Ministry of Health
has recently urged local governments to monitor and report SARS
cases, and conducted isolated treatment of patients in a timely
manner.
According to a report by the World Health Organization, so far,
there has still not been any conclusive evidence found that proves
that the newly discovered coronavirus is the actual cause of the
contagious disease.
(People's Daily April 14, 2003)