Beijing: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 16 virtually accused China,
especially the country's military, of attempting to cover-up the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Beijing by failing to report all known cases
of the killer disease, which could be up to 200 – six times more than the official
figure of 37.
"Indeed there have been cases of SARS – there is no question about that – that have
also not been reported officially," WHO virologist Wolfgang Preiser said after
visiting a military hospital.
WHO experts said China "certainly" has previously unreported cases of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome in a number of military hospitals, but barred release of
details about them.
"The (Chinese) military seems to have its own reporting system, which does not link
in presently with the municipal one," Preiser told reporters at a crowded press
conference.
He said that though the WHO team had access to information on SARS in military
hospitals, they have been barred by Chinese officials from giving details of their
visit in public without permission from the Defence Ministry.
The WHO's statement contradicted earlier contentions by senior Chinese officials
that they had reported all of the country's SARS cases, including those in military
hospitals in Beijing.
After much negotiation, members of the WHO team visited the military hospitals in
Beijing, where there were rumoured to be unreported cases of SARS.
"This is a clear problem which we have identified (and) recommended that it be
changed," Preiser said, referring to the WHO team's meetings with Chinese health
authorities on how to combat the SARS virus, which has so far killed 64 people and
infected 1,445 in China – nearly half of the world's cases – since it first surfaced
in the Southern province of Guangdong
in November 2002.
When repeatedly asked about the number of cases Beijing city would be having, Alan
Schnur, the WHO's team leader in the communicable disease control department in
Beijing said, "I would guess the range would be between 100 and 200."
Last week, Jiang Yanyong, a surgeon at Beijing's number 301 military hospital,
accused China's Health Minister Zhang Wenkang of covering up the number of cases in
Beijing.
"It is credible information made public," WHO representative in China Hunk Bekcham
said commenting on the figure given by Jiang.
"The different rumours and reports are well known to us and we follow these up and
basically they are accounted for by the figures we were given," Preiser said.
The WHO team made a number of recommendations to the Beijing municipal authorities
to improve the surveillance and reporting system on SARS, which they said was
not "up to the mark", but added that it was "not a wild out-of-control epidemic" yet.
While praising the efforts of authorities in Guangdong province to combat SARS, the
experts said other Chinese provinces should learn from the "Guangdong experience"
Bekcham warned that as no cure had been found yet, the world might have to face SARS
for a long time.
"We are in for a long haul. There is no quick solution. We are facing a serious
situation," he added.
PTI
