Health ministry publicizes need for contingency plans for bad weather

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Two urgent notices have been released by the Ministry of Health to highlight the importance of contingency plans for unexpected weather of the kind that much of China has had recently.

The health of stranded passengers and transportation of disaster-relief supplies should get top priority, the ministry said.

It also ordered health departments and medical institutions to actively communicate with the meteorological, transportation and power departments to help with contingency and emergency health plans.

Health departments and medical institutions in disaster areas should give priority to stranded people and ensure that all rescue facilities and medical care were available.

So far, no cases of infectious diseases or food poisoning have been reported in the snow-affected areas, according to the ministry.

Local health administrations must immediately report any illness outbreak, including infectious diseases, food and carbon monoxide poisoning cases and those of unknown causes, the ministry ordered.

More than 12,000 medical teams with 65,500 staff had been dispatched to snow-hit areas as of midnight Saturday, according to the latest available estimate from the Ministry of Health. The authorities have also delivered more than 6.3 million brochures advising the public on disease prevention and the impact of the bad weather.

A medical expert urged medical departments in the snow-hit areas to take necessary steps to prevent respiratory infectious diseases as soon as possible.

"Crowded places like railway stations should take swift measures against outbreaks of post-disaster respiratory epidemics," said Zhong Nanshan. He is a leading scientist who helped control the 2003 spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China.

He suggested sanitation and sterilization measures be taken in crowded transportation facilities, including using vinegar or wormwood incense; stopping littering; maintaining cleanliness and sanitation; encouraging stranded passengers to wear gauze masks and exercise if possible; and isolating patients who showed symptoms of respiratory tract infections.