A special lecture on preventing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was held in Beijing Wednesday for employees with over 100 foreign-funded enterprises in the Chinese capital.
A five-minute video was shown on SARS prevention measures recently taken by the municipal government.
Guo Jiyong, deputy director of the Health Bureau of Beijing, introduced the governmental services provided for foreigners in Beijing as well as visitors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Guo told the attendants that Beijing has opened English language hotlines and websites for SARS prevention consultations, and each overseas tourist to Beijing will be offered a special tourist card printed with SARS prevention and treatment methods.
Participants also were given handbooks on SARS prevention and related guide books in both Chinese and English which introduce the disease and give hotline telephone numbers.
The handbooks also list the designated hospitals for foreign SARS patients, including the Hemujia Maternity and Child Medical Care Center, the Beijing International (SOS) Saving and Rescuing Center and the West Section of Union Medical College Hospital.
Wang Qiang, a medical officer of the Shell China Exploration and Production Co. Ltd., said that the company is paying close attention to SARS with its sources mainly from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Chinese government.
(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2003)
