Wang Zijun, a division director from the Ministry of Health, said that the overall situation regarding disease control in flood-affected areas is good, but a high level of vigilance ought to be maintained and some areas of work should be improved.

Local health authorities are organizing doctors to provide various medical services for people who have been affected by the floods. Until now, no epidemic has been found in any flood-affected areas, Wang told China Daily yesterday.

Wang has just finished his three-day inspection in Anhui Province with two experts from the Ministry of Health.

A total of 1 million yuan (US$121,000) has been given by the central government to Anhui to specially support disease prevention, according to the Ministry of Health.

"Grass-roots officials I met in Anhui have given priority to disease control for residents, and local doctors' medical services and surveillance can cover every person there," Wang said.

However, more efforts should be made to improve hygiene in areas where flood victims are concentrated in order to prevent intestinal epidemic diseases, such as diarrhoea, and some other infectious diseases including malaria, Wang said.

Some public hygiene problems, such as sewage and rubbish disposal, need to be solved immediately.

These problems may greatly increase the chances for people to contract intestinal diseases and other infectious diseases.

Floods create more opportunities for mosquitoes to breed. These pests are a chief factor for spreading encephalitis B, malaria, dengue fever and other infectious diseases, said Liu Qiyong, an expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

(People’s Daily July 9, 2003)