China is to work with French diagnostic reagent giant BioMerieux
in upgrading the country's hospital infection prevention system,
according to a project plan signed here on Monday.
China's Ministry of Health (MOH) and BioMerieux will improve
virus infection prevention network in hospital through training,
formulating joint standards, providing anti-virus tests and
constructing information networks, according to the project
plan.
"The project will enhance the cooperation between clinical
section, microbiology labs and infection management departments in
hospitals, organizing training and stipulating guidelines for
doctors and nurses, and a DNA database will be established for
clinical reference," said Guo Yanhong, an official with MOH.
According to the statistics of MOH, the infectious rate in
Chinese hospitals is about 5 percent and most infectious cases
happen in intensive care units, hematology clinics and
wound-healing clinics.
Guo Yanhong attributed China's infectious cases to patients and
nurses' insufficient knowledge of hospital infections, relatively
backward facilities and techniques, and slow test speed.
The project will be launched in nine state-level hospitals in
Beijing and Shanghai municipalities and Hunan and Guangdong
provinces.
(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2008)