China to Probe Handling of Swine Virus Outbreak in Sichuan
Text of report by reporter Mao Chaojing, carried by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Asia-Pacific service
Chengdu, 30 July: Sichuan provincial authority will investigate and ascertain the responsibility of the number-one leading cadres of the localities and departments who failed to exercise effective leadership in the prevention of the epidemic disease.
The general office of the Sichuan provincial government recently issued an urgent circular calling for the party committees and governments at all levels to appropriately handle the epidemic situation. As it has a bearing on the lives and properties of the vast number of people, they must pay serious attention to the work, strengthen their sense of responsibility and sense of urgency, and take it as the most important task at present that must be grasped firmly, practically, and effectively.
In the localities where the epidemic disease has broken out, they must try by every possible means to prevent the disease from spreading; in those localities free of the disease so far, they must, under no circumstances, treat the matter lightly; instead, they must closely monitor the situation and put the measures into effect to provide against possible trouble. The number-one leading cadres of the administrative organs in various localities and departments are the first responsible persons who should be held accountable for human infection of the swine virus in their localities and departments.
The responsibility of the number-one leading cadres and relevant personnel will be investigated and ascertained according to pertinent stipulations if they neglected their duties, failed to carry out their work properly, concealed the actual situation, omitted to report the true state of affairs, or delayed in submitting reports of the epidemic situation to the higher authorities, which lead to serious consequences and cause heavy losses.
The circular stressed that in order to cut off the source of the epidemic disease and intensify the prevention and cure of pig diseases, various localities and departments should persist in giving priority to prevention, and practice the responsibility system under which cities undertake overall responsibility for counties, counties undertake overall responsibility for townships, townships undertake overall responsibility for rural communities, and rural communities undertake overall responsibility for peasant households.
A net-drawing-style general survey on pig diseases should be conducted, and the preventive work of sterilization should be carried out in a comprehensive way. It is imperative to put the people first, persevere in scientific prevention and cure, and do everything possible to cure the sickness to save the patients. A general survey should also be conducted for those who had contact with sick or dead pigs; everyone of them should undergo physical examination and take preventive medications. In order to take the initiative in searching and rescuing infected patients, efforts should be made to ensure early discovery, report, and treatment.