Shockwaves Still Felt in Post-Quake China
Posted on: Saturday, 19 July 2008, 18:53 CDT
According to the Chinese government, the health situation in regions of China hit by a massive May earthquake remains bleak.
The 7.9 earthquake hit the southwestern province of Sichuan, leaving over 10 million homeless, and nearly 70,000 dead.
"We are still in a critical stage of quake relief at this moment. The health and epidemic prevention work is still grim. We still have arduous tasks ahead," the Chinese Health Ministry said.
"As many people have been assigned to live in temporary shelter, there is a serious shortage of public health facilities and hidden dangers in food and drinking water safety," it added.
The hospital and health clinics in the hard hit regions have not yet gotten back on their feet.
But according to Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qunan, rebuilding is on track.
"By the end of this year, medical services and epidemic prevention systems will be fully functioning with proper facilities, equipment and trained workers in the whole quake zone," he said.
"Efforts will be made to prevent major infectious diseases and public health incidents from happening," Mao added.
Diarrhea is one of the main problems faced by earthquake survivors, but Mao insisted that the epidemic surveillance system was up and running by and large and could find outbreaks quickly.
"The system has mostly been restored, so if there are any epidemics in the disaster zone, or any possible signs of one, we can track it, report it and get to the bottom of it in a timely way," Mao said.
Source: redOrbit staff and wire reports
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds