The Chinese Health Ministry recently issued a notice to require health departments of all levels to enhance supervision of non-state-owned clinics to prevent the recurrence of SARS.

The ministry said in a circular issued on Friday that a supervision team from the State Council had discovered that many medical staff of local private clinics were not well-trained, which posed a danger to the prevention of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

The ministry asked local health departments to check out all non-state-owned clinics in their precinct, help train medical staff and close illegal ones.

All the private clinics should record fever patients, transfer those who couldn't be excluded as SARS patients to hospitals with fever clinics and report to the local disease prevention and control center immediately, said the ministry.

Those who fail to transfer patients and thus cause the outbreak and spread of SARS or cause severe health damage to the public would be punished according to the law, the circular said.

The ministry also required hospitals to strictly implement relevant SARS technical guides to secure the protection of medical staff working in fever clinics.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2003)