"What people have lost during health disasters will surely be compensated if we can learn some lessons in the process,'' he told a group of experts expounding on the topic.

According to Wen, China has attained major achievements in the prevention and treatment of SARS, with related medical work embarking on a "scientific and standardized'' track.

From the hard-won campaign has emerged an enhanced social awareness of the importance of an efficient public health mechanism, which should be able to react quickly towards such emergencies as SARS.

Wen said the government should take resolute measures to improve the country's public health mechanism.

The measures should include an emergency mechanism comprising a complete disease information network, a disease prevention and control system and a disease emergency treatment system.

The government should also push for the adoption of special laws and regulations to ensure effective handling of public health emergencies, step up related medical studies and stage efforts to bring home to people the importance of healthy habits.

Wen also promised further reforms in public health, emphasizing the establishment of more rural medical facilities with an eye for a better rural healthcare system as a whole.

China is striving for a "comprehensively better-off society'' and should always strike a balance between the economy and society in terms of development. There should also be a balance between its urban and rural parts, Wen said.

The Ministry of Health reported no new SARS cases and new deaths from the disease on the Chinese mainland for the 24 hours from 10:00 am Monday to 10:00 am Tuesday.

And 69 SARS patients were discharged from hospital, including 67 in Beijing. There was one each in North China's Hebei Province and Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The Chinese mainland reported two new suspected SARS cases in Beijing, while another two suspected cases in South China's Guangdong Province have been ruled out.

The number of SARS patients hospitalized on the Chinese mainland was reduced to 248 while the number of suspected SARS patients in hospital on the Chinese mainland remained at 50.

(China Daily June 18, 2003)