Chinese medical expert Zhong Nanshan on Wednesday called for
further international cooperation in the fight against SARS at the
ASEAN, China, Japan and ROK (10+3) High-level Symposium on SARS.
Zhong is an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and
director of the Respiratory Disease Research Institute of the No.1
Hospital affiliated to Guangzhou Medical Science College.
Zhong said that international cooperation had made great
contributions to the treatment of SARS, noting that it took only
three months to map out the genetic sequence of the SARS virus due
to the joint efforts made by scientists from a variety of
countries.
International cooperation would continue to be important for future
vaccine and genetic research, Zhong stressed, adding that each
country had advantages in SARS treatment, which are mutually
complementary.
China was among the best places where epidemiological researches
were conducted, and it would make more contributions in this field,
according to him.
The treatment which combines traditional Chinese herbal medicines
and Western therapies is one of the topics at the symposium.
Such treatments had proven to be effective in curing the disease,
he said, adding that the SARS outbreak had provided a good
opportunity for traditional Chinese herbal medicines to play an
important role.
(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2003)