Rural health care, infectious diseases and the ageing population
are among the key issues that will be discussed at the Sino-US
strategic economic dialogue that starts today in Beijing, a top US
health official said yesterday.
Visiting Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt
said the talks would also focus on financing of medical costs, as
well as science and technology exchanges including better
integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
Leavitt, a member of the high-level delegation headed by US
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, started his trip to China
earlier; and has visited Chengdu, Guangzhou and Beijing during the
past week.
"We are coming to have this dialogue not only because we believe
it's good for the Chinese government, but because we believe it's
good for the US for China to be a strong, vibrant, integrated and
harmonious society," Leavitt told a news briefing.
"We want to see how we can be helpful because we will benefit
economically if China is prosperous and their environment and their
health care and their energy and all the other parts of the society
are sustainable," he said.
Leavitt said rural health care and the financing of medical
costs, which are challenges for both China and the US, would be one
of the priority areas during the dialogue.
He also said he would discuss China's rapidly increasing ageing
population, as well as the importance of food safety and a safe
supply of medicines.
To deal with infectious diseases, a collaborative office between
the Chinese and US centers for disease control and prevention was
established yesterday in Beijing.
The office, where experts from the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention will also work, will focus on diseases such
as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and avian influenza, Leavitt
said.
He also met his Chinese counterpart Gao Qiang yesterday.
(China Daily December 14, 2006)
