Mainland to improve health coop with SARs
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-06-12 10:57

China's Ministry of Health would work more closely with Hong Kong and Macao to deal with public health emergencies and guarantee people's health in the two special administrative regions (SARs), China's Minister of Health said Saturday.

On his last day of visit to Hong Kong and Macao, Gao Qiang said that the Ministry of Health would strengthen cooperation with the two regions and enhance information exchange to all the mainland provinces on the basis of the existing mechanism. The mainland authorities would notify Hong Kong and Macao promptly if there were any infectious disease outbreaks.

Gao Qiang said the Ministry of Health will hold further discussion with Hong Kong and Macao on establishing cooperation mechanism in dealing with public health emergencies. He added if there were any infectious disease outbreaks in Hong Kong and Macao, the ministry would work closely with the two regions and offer necessary assistance in respect of resources and expertise to guarantee the public health and keep social stability.

Gao said the mainland and the SARs have held discussions and reached consensus on strengthening cooperation and information exchange, especially on disease prevention.

He cited an example that the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention had promptly sent experts to contain the spread of disease to Xinjiang, Northwest China, in the event of avian influenza outbreaks. Meanwhile, the mainland authorities notified Hong Kong immediately about the situation of the infectious disease. He said right now the bird flu was effectively contained without human infection.

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