More than 20 hospitals in Beijing have been selected as hospitals for the 2008 Olympic Games, with all the doctors receiving training in English.

Doctors in the designated hospitals -- which include the PLA General Hospital and the China-Japan Friendship Hospital -- will write prescriptions for foreign patients in both Chinese and English, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau.

First aid volunteers speaking other languages will be recruited. The bureau will cooperate with banks to ensure foreign patients can use international bank cards in the hospitals from 2007.

Jin Dapeng, director of the bureau, said a food safety monitoring system covering all Olympic Games districts and counties will be set up next year.

Food and drinking water in the Olympic village, stadiums, hotels and restaurants will be monitored to ensure athletes' safety, Jin said.

He said that a reporting system covering intestinal and respiratory diseases will be activated during the Games.

"There are still some weak points in the medical system -- for example, the skills and service quality of doctors and nurses needto be improved," Jin said.

In addition, Beijing's emergency medical aid center will upgrade the satellite positioning system used for ambulances. The Health Bureau will cooperate with the aviation department to provide air rescue services during the Games, according to the bureau.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)