China is working to vaccinate its people against 15 epidemics,
up from seven now, said Chen Zhu, Chinese Health Minister on
Wednesday.
"China's national immunization projects will cover most of the
epidemics in the world," Chen said at a press conference.
This is one of the efforts Chinese health authorities have made
to improve preventive health service.
"In a country with 1.3 billion population, we can't count on
hospitals to guarantee the public health. Most efforts should be
done for preventive measures like basic sanitation and epidemic
prevention," Chen said.
The public health service first should provide people with clean
water, safe food and proper immunization and then easy access to
basic medical treatment, he said.
"One of the key jobs for the health departments is to improve
sewage and toilet facilities in rural areas," Chen said.
The country had for years spent more resources in improving
hospital facilities, especially for fatal diseases, but since 2003
it has been trying to shift the focus to preventive health
service.
"We have made considerable achievement in controlling epidemics
like SARS and bird flu," Chen said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2007)