China to eliminate endemic diseases in 5 yrs

BEIJING - China will establish a long-term working system to prevent and cure endemic diseases in key areas, according to a plan jointly issued by the Ministry of Health, National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance.

The plan said that China will continue to work on eliminating iodine deficiency in 90 percent of China's cities, districts and counties in Hainan, Qinghai, Tibet and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and to keep the condition of no iodine deficiency in 95 percent regions of other provinces.

China will also plan to change 95 percent of the family cooking stoves to prevent fluorosis in coal-fired areas with teaching people the correct use of family stoves.

In addition, China will reinforce the later-stage in the management of water-change projects to ensure water quality in accordance with national hygiene standards, and basically eliminate Kaschin-Beck disease in 95 percent of east and central China and 85 percent of the west.

According to the plan, China will enhance monitoring to predict and cure nationwide endemic diseases to provide scientific strategy for prevention and treatment, and encourage people to maintain a healthy lifestyle through education on the prevention and treatment of endemic disease.

By the end of 2010, 28 provincial level regions had reached the periodical objectives of eliminating iodine deficiency and 92.6 percent of the cooking stoves had been reformed in coal-fired regions.

From Chinadaily