Infectious diseases, once the No. 1 cause of death among the Chinese people, has been effectively brought under control after more than 50 years of prevention and control efforts, according to a senior health official.

Infectious diseases ranked as the tenth major cause of death in China in 2004, compared with the top place in 1952, said Qi Xiaoqiu, a senior official in charge of disease control with the Ministry of Health.

China has made remarkable achievements in the prevention and control of various infectious diseases, including the eradication of poliomyelitis in 2000, a drastic drop in the cases of measles, diphtheria, pertussis, encephalitis B Japanica and epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, Qi told a recent seminar on the public health system held in this capital city of southern Hainan Province.

The government launched an information system on infectious diseases and public health emergencies in January 2004 after the fight against the SARS epidemic in 2003.

By the end of 2004, Qi said, over 93 percent of hospitals at and above the county level and nearly 43 percent of township hospitals across the country had built links with the national information system, which enables the health authorities to report infectious disease epidemic timely and accurately on a daily basis.

Nevertheless, the country still faces serious threat from both new and old infectious diseases, Qi said, adding that efforts should be intensified to standardize infectious disease prevention and control, especially in the vast rural areas where medical care facilities remain poor.

(Xinhua News Agency January 3, 2006)