More funds will be poured into China's vast western region to
improve medical services.
Vice Health Minister Wang Longde says China has recently
provided 240 million yuan, about US$29 million, to set up medical
treatment systems in poor areas in the country's west.
Next year, it will invest another 1.2 billion yuan, some US$145
million, to strengthen assistance from hospitals in developed areas
to underdeveloped rural areas in the west.
The vice minister also notes that, with the building of the
nationwide health information network in the wake of the SARS
outbreak, the early warning system has shortened the reporting
period for infectious diseases, and thus speeded up the diagnosis
of such diseases.
(CRI November 24, 2004)