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Chinese Agency Reports Increasing Epidemic Outbreaks in Rural Areas

Posted on: Thursday, 8 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Excerpt from report entitled: "Why are students in secondary and primary schools in poor rural areas frequently attacked by epidemics?", carried by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) on 7 September; subheadings as carried

Wuhan, 7 September: During recent investigations in Hubei and Ningxia, our reporters found that, in recent years, because health and disease prevention work has weakened, epidemic outbreaks have been increasing in some poverty-stricken rural areas. Pupils of secondary and primary schools have become a major group of victims of rural epidemic outbreaks.

Schools bear the brunt of frequent outbreaks

During a one-month period between March and April 2005, Tanshan Township Central School in Yunxian county, a state-designated poor county [Chinese: guo jia ji pin kun xian] in Shiyan municipality, northwest Hubei Province, suffered three epidemic outbreaks - hepatitis A, measles and haemorrhagic conjunctivitis respectively, involving 60 people altogether. Some of the outbreaks affected the surrounding areas as well.

This is not an isolated case. In Haiyuan county in Ningxia, which is also a state-designated poor county, in the two-month period after late March, there were seven outbreaks of mumps and nettle rash, etc. A relevant responsible person of the local health and disease prevention department said that such concentrated and large- scale outbreaks had not happened for years. [passage omitted]

According to the public health department of Shiyan municipality, rural epidemic outbreaks are clearly on the rise in recent years. In 2004, there were altogether 61 outbreaks in the municipality, more than double the previous year's figure, which was 24. Most of the outbreaks were in rural areas. An emergency report from Yunxian county public health bureau to the county government said that, in first quarter 2005, there were 24 outbreaks of hepatitis A, more than twice as many as last year's annual figure.

Pupils lose protection as epidemic prevention weakened

Public health authorities say that the frequent outbreaks in rural schools are directly linked to the weakening of rural public health and disease prevention work in recent years.

Zhang Yueqin, deputy head of Yunxian County Public Health Bureau, said that her bureau conducted investigations after three consecutive outbreaks this year, and found that the percentages of people vaccinated against measles and hepatitis A were below 85 per cent, the necessary level needed to put epidemics under control. Among the 1,200 people of Xinhe village, only 43 were vaccinated against hepatitis A. Among the 54 children in Xujia village who should be vaccinated against measles, only 16 had been. The low vaccination rate and wide gaps in disease prevention have directly caused the outbreaks and spread of epidemics.

Sun Chubin, who works at Hubei provincial price bureau, said that, according to relevant state regulations, only some vaccines are free of charge in Hubei. [passage omitted]

As the costs of vaccination are too high, farmers lack motivation to get their children vaccinated. [passage omitted]

Another important reason is that few students are willing to pay to get medical check-ups. [passage omitted]

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

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