About 96.6 percent of farmers in Guangdong Province, south China,
are satisfied with the Chinese government's efforts to fight severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS),
according to a recent survey.
Only six percent of the respondents said they were scared by the
disease, according to the poll of 502 farming families in 30
counties in the province, which was carried out by the Guangdong
Provincial Rural Social and Economic Investigation Team.
Asked "Are you willing to be isolated if a SARS patient is found in
your village?", 97.4 percent of the surveyed farmers said
"Yes."
The survey shows 88.2 percent of families have adopted measures
advised by the government to prevent the spread of SARS, such as
opening windows for ventilation and using disinfectant
regularly.
The survey also shows that 99.8 percent of the respondents said
they knew about SARS and 93 percent learned about SARS through
radio and TV programs, on newspapers or were told by village
heads.
At
least 85 percent of the surveyed farmers knew that the government
would exempt them from medical fees if they were infected by
SARS.
Nearly 70 percent of farming families in Guangdong reported
SARS-related falls in their income as they were not allowed to seek
jobs in urban areas, could not obtain their full salaries since
factories were not in full operation, and they could not sell their
produce.
However, 90.8 percent of the surveyed farmers said they were
confident the government would win the battle against SARS.
(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2003)
