Beijing is playing host to a gathering of over 300 experts from
around the world at an anti-SARS symposium.
The focus of the meeting, which began yesterday, is to forge closer
ties in the global scientific community to advance the technology
for identifying the disease and developing a vaccine against
it.
The international symposium, sponsored by China's ministries of
science and technology, health, and education, the Beijing
municipal government and other relevant departments, has drawn
representatives from the World
Health Organization (WHO) and 19 countries including the United
States, Australia and Canada.
Henk Bekedam, the WHO China representative, said his organization
had worked closely with Beijing in the campaign to combat SARS in
the past few months.
He
expressed his appreciation to health and medical workers both in
China and worldwide for dedicated work fighting the disease.
"Although the SARS outbreaks have been controlled, we still face
the task of eliminating the disease," he said.
SARS has become a global common enemy. Therefore, international
cooperation is more important than competition, said Bekedam.
Speaking at yesterday's opening ceremony of the symposium of
medical and biological experts, State Councilor Chen Zhilli spoke
of the considerable contribution that Chinese scientists had made
to combating the virus, new in mankind.
They have conducted an enormous amount of research into spread
trends of SARS, clinical treatment technology, combinations of
western diagnostic practice and traditional Chinese medicines,
protective technology and equipment for SARS prevention, and the
development of vaccines and drugs.
But despite all the efforts to date, greater ones are needed to
find more reliable and early diagnostic methods for SARS and to
develop a vaccine against the disease, said Chen.
In
another development, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued
a regulation aimed at tightening the management of publications
relating to national scientific achievements.
The regulation states that important national scientific
achievements, including SARS-related research findings, will be
reported to the ministry before being released.
The regulation aims to avoid invalidated, random or exaggerated
publication of research findings by institutions or companies.
(China Daily July 11, 2003)