(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-07 18:52

The World Health Organization (WHO) had provided China with US$190 million worth of aid by the end of 2007, China's vice health minister Ma Xiaowei said Monday.

Ma told a World Health Day gathering in Beijing that the aid was mainly for public health, such as epidemic treatment and prevention and tobacco control.

According to Ma, 71 Chinese institutions had been appointed as cooperation centers with the world health body by the end of 2007.

China had a long history of cooperation with the WHO, especially after the country began the reform and opening up in 1978, the official said.

With the WHO aid, China sent more than 2,000 medical experts to study abroad, meanwhile the WHO helped send thousands of experts to China for technical support, especially in the combat against SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and bird flu in recent years, Ma said.