China will fix what's broke
By Blair Speedy
March 11, 2004
CHINA'S single-minded pursuit of economic growth was partly responsible for the SARS outbreak that killed more than 1000 people worldwide, according to one of the country's leading authorities on the disease.
Zhong Nan-Shan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease, welcomed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's announcement this week that China would limit GDP growth to 7 per cent in 2004, down from 9.1 per cent in 2003.
Premier Wen said China would cut infrastructure spending in favour of welfare, employment and agriculture.
Professor Zhong, visiting Melbourne to address a biotechnology conference, said this was a positive step for health in China, which had suffered under the policy of economic growth at all costs.
"The Government had a big change in attitude to public health. Because of the outbreak of SARS we have learned some lessons," he said.
"The administration will pay more attention to social development, including culture, education, research, science, public health and art, not just developing GDP."
He predicted that a second SARS outbreak would be even more devastating to growth than the last one, which cost China $US17.9 billion ($23.8 billion) in 2003 and cut annual GDP growth by 0.7 per cent, according to figures from the Asian Development Bank.
"No one would think there was safety. There would be no investment, no travel, no anything, it would be worse."
However, the professor expected a public and medical awareness campaign to prevent this happening as infected people could be more quickly isolated to prevent them passing on the virus.
China's Centre for Disease Control had also begun phase one human trials of a SARS vaccine found to protect against the disease in monkeys. But, he said, it would be at least two years before a final version of the drug could be made available.
Even then, Professor Zhong said, its effectiveness would not really be known until the disease resurfaced.
The previous outbreak saw the number of infected people in China grow from one in December 2002 to 25 a month later, with about 8000 people worldwide eventually affected.
However, two new cases in China last December have not been followed by further infections, suggesting the disease may have been contained.
But Professor Zhong said clinical experience of the disease's transmission was still limited and it was too early to sound the all-clear.
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