Q&A: Interview with US health secretary
Updated: 2007-12-10 17:24
Li Xing: I'm still interested in your trip last year, when you visited some orphanages in Guangzhou, and you also met with a girl who recovered from the bird flu.
Michael Leavitt: I met the little girl and her family, and I met the doctor who cared for her and who very quickly recognized that it was a dangerous situation and reported the event. And she got the care she needed. She's not the first family member that I have met who had avian influenza. When I was in Vietnam a couple of years ago, I met a family who had the father and the mother and two daughters who became very sick. And they told me about their experience. It helps me understand it. It's hard to fully understand how horrible it would be and the fear they would have until you've talked to them. And how it affected the people in the village and they had to destroy their chickens and it was their livelihood and how difficult that was for the village chief. Seeing it where it actually happens is the very best way. Actually, I've written quite a bit about that trip. I didn't publish it, but maybe I could use my connection with the editor, now, to do that.
Li Xing: Please do. Based on your experience, in what specific ways should the United States and China collaborate to prevent pandemics?
Michael Leavitt:The most important thing we can do is to be transparent and share. Share knowledge and share samples. For example, when there's an event, it's very important that the world knows about it and the world has a chance to look at the samples of the virus, so that we can be preparing for a vaccine. That we share research on vaccines. When it comes to a pandemic, if it exists anywhere, there's danger everywhere.
Li Xing: That's right.
Michael Leavitt: And we're all in a pandemic together. There's no way that one country can be isolated or one country can be dealing with it on their own. So the best thing we can do is what we're doing now. We can always do a better job of it, but being transparent and sharing information.
Li Xing: Thank you very much for being with us. You've been very informative. I think Chinese netizens have really learned a lot. Would you like to say anything?
Michael Leavitt: I will. I'm delighted for a chance to do this. This is the first time I've had the chance to do this. This is the first time I've done this kind of a forum in China or anywhere else. I hope that I can continue this dialogue with many of the netizens on my own blog. And if you'll watch my blog, I'll write an article about my interaction here. If you have other questions, I may not be able to answer all of them, because my guess with 10 million hits a day, China Daily probably has more than I could possibly respond to. But I'd love the interaction and I commit to you that we'll continue our discussion.
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