Strengthening laboratory biosafety is an urgent task for the
national health system and all medical care institutions must step
up safety management, said Executive Vice Minister of Health Gao
Qiang on Thursday. Gao was speaking at a nationwide teleconference
of provincial-level leaders.
Just a week ago, Li Liming, director of the Chinese Center for
Disease Control and Prevention, resigned after mismanagement of the
virus at the center’s National Institute of Virology was confirmed
as the source of the country’s severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) outbreak earlier this year. Nine cases in Beijing and Anhui
Province were confirmed in April and May, and one patient died.
Four of Li’s colleagues were also disciplined.
The outbreak was determined to be a major accident resulting
from negligence.
“That sounds the alarm for the nation’s lab safety management,”
Gao Qiang said. “The punishment of some cadres will raise awareness
of official responsibility and establish a responsibility system
for major accidents.”
Gao pointed out the importance of protecting the health of
researchers, since study of disease prevention and control,
particularly of virology, is a high-risk job. Such posts must be
equipped with the necessary safety facilities and monitoring and
reporting systems must be adhered to strictly, he said.
Gao suggesting designating special hospitals for treatment of
researchers to guard against the wider spread of disease while
providing good medical care.
Medical institutions should increase staff training to enhance
their ability to identify infectious disease, and step up control
of in-hospital infections.
Investigation into the outbreak showed that two researchers
working at the National Institute of Virology in Beijing, where
experiments using live and inactivated SARS coronavirus were
conducted, developed the disease in late March and mid-April. The
outbreak was reported on April 22 and the institute was closed a
day later.
Soon after the outbreak was reported, a team consisting of
members of China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and the
Beijing and national disease prevention and control centers began
to investigate. The World Health Organization also sent a team to
assist.
(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2004)