BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li
Keqiang urged vaccine companies to step up the preparation work for vaccine
production after the first domestic A/H1N1 influenza case was confirmed in
southern Guangdong Province Friday.
Li made the remarks during his inspection in the
Sinovac, the only one company in the country that was qualified to produce
vaccines for a pandemic flu here Friday afternoon.
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (C)
talks with a staff member of Sinovac, known in China as Beijing Kexing
Bioproducts Limited Company, in Beijing, capital of China, on May 29,
2009. Li Keqiang urged vaccine companies to step up the preparation work
for vaccine production after the first domestic A/H1N1 influenza case was
confirmed in southern Guangdong Province Friday. (Xinhua/Ma
Zhancheng) Photo
Gallery>>>
Yin
Hongzhang, a senior official with the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA),
told Xinhua earlier this week that the country had set up a green channel
between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Chinese drug makers which
would enable the companies to start vaccine manufacturing immediately after
receiving samples of the vaccine strain.
"Meanwhile, we should seize the time to produce more
anti-virus medicines, quarantine equipment, materials and facilities for medical
treatment to cope with emergency," Li Keqiang said.
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang talks
with medical workers of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing,
capital of China, on May 29, 2009. (Xinhua/Ma
Zhancheng) Photo
Gallery>>>
He urged related departments to continue strict
border quarantine check to prevent imported cases and close supervision on both
urban and rural areas.
He warned experts to prepare for a protracted fight
against the disease given the fact that China has a large population, especially
a large migrant population, inadequate public health resources and weak
capability to prevent and control diseases in rural areas.
"Further efforts are needed to perfect preventive
measures and improve grassroots medical services systems in urban and rural
areas," Li said. He also called for efforts to publicize knowledge on disease
prevention and educate the public to be aware of disease prevention.
Li told the public not to panic about the disease
despite the first domestic infection case. "As worldwide experiences show, the
flu can still be controlled, prevented and cured," he added.
"Since the A/H1N1 epidemic first broke out overseas
one month ago, our prevention work has proven to be effective and has been
carried out in an orderly manner," said Li when he visited a lab for biological
safety under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
As of Friday, 21 confirmed cases involve eight provinces and municipalities of the Chinese mainland: Six in Guangdong, five in Beijing, four in Shanghai, two in Fujian, and one each in Hunan, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang. Seven of them had recovered and were discharged from hospitals.
BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- China raised vigilance against influenza A/H1N1 Friday after a patient in southern Guangdong Province was declared the first case of local transmission on the mainland.
Meanwhile the government and the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed confidence that the spread of the virus can be slowed down in China as authorities moved to maintain a high level of surveillance for early detection and treatment of the cases. Full story
GENEVA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has mounted "a very robust response" to the threat of A/H1N1 influenza and the efforts are paying off, the head of World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
"The ministry of health under the coordination of government leaders mounted a very robust response so that they are able to track down all the cases," Dr Margaret Chan told Xinhua in an interview. Full story
GUIYANG, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authorities on Friday lifted quarantine on 24 American tourists who had close contact with a confirmed A/H1N1 flu patient.
The 24 people, including 21 students and three teachers from a Silver Spring private school, were traveling as a group in southwest China's Guizhou Province and were quarantined on May 25 at a hotel in the city of Kaili. They had taken the same flight with Hong Kong's sixth confirmed A/H1N1 flu case. Full story
