A lack of communication between researchers and officials has been blamed for
the two-year delay in confirming the Chinese mainland's first death from bird
flu.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing yesterday Vice-Minister of Health
Jiang Zuojun, explained that the death of a 24-year-old man in Beijing in
November 2003 came as the city was gripped by an outbreak of severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS).
"This case had similar symptoms to SARS, but clinical tests based on SARS
standards determined it was not a SARS case," he said.
As it was a sudden and new infectious disease, there were not yet diagnosis
standards in place, so researchers started to study the case, said Jiang.
The research took time, as researchers conducted DNA sequencing tests, as
well as epidemiological and genetics studies, he said.
On June 22 this year, eight Chinese scientists published a letter in the New
England Journal of Medicine, claiming that the bird flu virus had been isolated
in the man's body.
The case was confirmed by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday, putting the
mainland's first human infection of H5N1 bird flu two years earlier than
previously thought.
Jiang said that in 2003 scientific institutions were not legally required to
report infectious diseases, and bird flu was not a disease that had to be
reported by law until after 2004, when the law on prevention and treatment of
infectious diseases was revised.
"The case has exposed that there was a problem in our scientific research
institutions," said Jiang. "In the future they should improve communication and
contact with disease prevention organizations."
Also at yesterday's conference, Jiang said China's urban community health
service would get a shot in the arm in the years ahead, as the government has
promised subsidies and incentives for doctors who work at service centres.
The government plans to build one health service centre for every community
of between 30,000 and 100,000 residents.
Providing health services in Chinese cities has proved difficult and
expensive, partly because many residents go to hospital for minor illnesses and
chronic diseases, instead of using community services because they doubt local
doctors are adequately qualified or the equipment up to scratch.
In light of the situation, Jiang said priority will be put on training
general doctors doctors who are not specialists but treat all illnesses and on
attracting more medical professionals to work for communities through pay and
welfare incentives.
(China Daily 08/11/2006 page2)
