Health News
WHO: China might be unable to control SARS
By Steve Mitchell,
UPI Medical Correspondent
World Health
Organisation (WHO) experts (l-r) Jeffrey McFarland, Wolfgang Preiser,
Robert Maguire and WHO representative in Beijing, Henk Bekedam
during a press conference in Beijing, 16 April 2003.
AFP PHOTO/GOH CHAI HIN
WASHINGTON (UPI) Although the Chinese government now appears to be cooperating with international officials to control its outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, the World Health Organization said Tuesday it still has concerns that some of China's provinces might not be equipped to deal with the disease.
China reported 339 previously undisclosed SARS cases in Beijing over the weekend after WHO officials accused the government of covering up the extent of the outbreak. Also, the minister of health and the mayor of Beijing were fired for their role in downplaying the number of SARS cases.
"Very clearly, China is now really
ready and opening up on SARS," Dr. Henk Bekedam, chief representative
of World Health Organization in China, said during a teleconference
from Beijing.
"But at the same time we are also quite concerned about the
other provinces," Bekedam said.
The main areas of concern are the "poorer provinces"
because they have less resources and "the public health system
has collapsed over the last 20 years" because the government
has not adequately funded it, he said. The poorer provinces are
typically the 12 western provinces, he said.
Bekedam noted he "very clearly mentioned"
to Chinese officials the central government needs to provide "sufficient
human and financial support" to these provinces to help them
contain SARS.
The Chinese government has said it is sending teams to all the
provinces to help them deal with SARS. Also, the government has
authorized the hiring of 2,500 people to monitor those infected
and trace their contacts.
WHO officials are working closely with the government "to see how we can support China in dealing with SARS," Bekedam said.
"If China is not dealing with SARS,
it will be very problematic to deal with globally," he added.
China, where the disease is thought to have originated in November,
has the largest number of SARS cases of any country affected by
the disease. Of the 3,861 cases that have been reported worldwide,
1,959 have occurred in China. To date, 480 of the Chinese cases
have occurred in Beijing.
Bekedam said it still is possible the SARS situation in China could be contained but there is definite concern about whether Chinese officials will be successful in that effort.
"It will take longer in China than in many other countries where the health system is stronger," he said.
Officials also are wary because they know
that a few cases could start an outbreak, he said.
All hospitals in China, including the military hospitals
which were not reporting SARS cases before are now reporting
cases of the disease to the WHO, Bekedam said, adding it will
be a "few weeks before we understand the extent of the outbreak
in Beijing."
About 217 people have died from SARS, including 86 in China, but the disease might be slightly more fatal than previously estimated, Bekedam said.
Health officials from certain countries are reviewing the current cases and deaths from the disease and it appears the fatality rate might be around five percent, rather than four percent as was previously reported, he said.