The World Health Organization (WHO) started Monday a public health and emergency management training program in east China's metropolis Shanghai.

Twenty-five Chinese personnel who work in emergency handling or public health from Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing municipalities, provinces like Yunnan and Liaoning in southwest and northeast China, will get an 11-day training here, a local health official said.

WHO experts and officials will teach them how to work out emergency plans for calamities and organize rescue workers for public health incidents, epidemiological monitoring and emergency networking, the official said.

The program, at the co-sponsorship of the China's Health Ministry and WHO, will be held annually for the next three years in China, according to the official.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2006)