(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-05 07:12

The inclusion of EV 71 in the C class epidemics, along with the issuance of specifications for prevention against the virus, is a right step the Ministry of Health has taken in the wake of 4,529 cases being reported in Anhui province.

A special group headed by the minister of health was set up on Sunday to guide the monitoring and preventive actions nationwide.

All these mean that local health departments will have to step up their own mechanisms to monitor the progress of the epidemic and report it to the ministry of health everyday. And local health departments are also required to keep local residents informed of the latest situation.

In spite of the warning from the ministry that the cases of the virus infections were likely to rise in some parts of the country in the coming months, we have reasons to believe that the number of deaths from the possible cases can be considerably reduced if residents are informed properly of the risks and if they take necessary action immediately in case their children get infected.

And if the people are mobilized nationwide to take preventive measures by paying enough attention to personal hygiene and environmental sanitation, it will also not be very difficult to bring the epidemic under control.

Yet, all these will never be accomplished unless the people are informed of the whole truth about the latest development. Transparency is the very basis for effective preventive efforts but they require the involvement of the people.

Preparedness averts peril. For those localities where no case has been reported yet, the efforts to mobilize local residents for preventive measures are no less urgent than those of affected regions to bring the epidemic under control.

As a matter of fact, more cases of these intestinal virus infections had already been reported early this year in Singapore, China's Taiwan island and sporadically in some mainland provinces, compared with the same period of last year. Had more attention been paid to the possibility of an outbreak, the crisis in the city of Fuyang, Anhui, where 22 deaths were caused by a lack of timely diagnosis and treatment, could have been prevented.

No less important is the need to reflect on the delayed reaction by the local government to the looming crisis. This delay has caused losses that could have otherwise been avoided.

(China Daily 05/05/2008 page4)