Guangdong province pushed to better prevent infectious diseases

GUANGZHOU - A senior lawmaker urged South China's Guangdong province to step up efforts in enforcing the law on prevention and control of infectious diseases during a four-day inspection ending Friday.

Acknowledging Guangdong's achievement in this area, Wang Chen, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said the province efficiently responded to the sudden outbreaks of several infectious diseases including dengue fever and Norovirus, and actively controlled new cases of bird flu and other diseases.

However, the province faces a tough task since it has a large number of mobile population and still sees high incidence of some infectious diseases, said Wang, who led the inspection team.

He said that the province should develop a government-led prevention and control mechanism featuring cooperation between departments and engagement of civil society, and it should be innovative in controlling infectious sources.

Prevention and control work should be carried out in accordance with law and efforts be made to raise the public awareness of the law, Wang said.

The NPC Standing Committee launched an inspection of the law enforcement in eight provincial-level regions in May.

A total of 19,796 people died from infectious diseases on the Chinese mainland in 2017, according to the health authority.