Beijing symposium concentrates on Ebola prevention and control

(en.nhfpc.gov.cn)

Updated: 2016-01-08

There was an important international symposium on Ebola in Beijing, March 23-24, sponsored by the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) and World Health Organization (WHO), and with Cui Li, a NHFPC vice-minister addressing the opening ceremony.

Cui explained to the gathering, “Ebola broke out in Guinea and other West African countries, in March of last year, the Chinese government provided four loads of emergency aid totaling about 750 billion yuan ($1.21 billion),” then adding that by now it has dispatched nearly 1,000 medical personnel to Ebola-affected areas, where they tested around 5,000 virus samples, treated 900 people and trained 13,000 local medical personnel. She then called for the international community to work together and join the fight against Ebola.

Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO’s China representative, who also addressed the meeting, commented that China played a leading role in assisting West African countries in the fight against Ebola and sent doctors and supplies and built laboratories and treatment centers, providing a great deal of help for controlling the disease.

Participants also discussed Ebola research and progress and ways to improve healthcare and international cooperation.

The symposium was a joint effort by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Institut Pasteur, and Fondation Mérieux, and brought in the heads of NHFPC’s Health Emergency Response Office, Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, International Cooperation Dept, and experts from organizations and research institutes in China and abroad.