PM announces taskforce to combat deadly killer virus
HA NOI (March 21, 2003)— Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has announced the setting up of a steering committee, under Health Minister Tran Thi Trung Chien, to combat the spread of the killer atypical pneumonia in the country.
The committee will also include the deputy ministers for Foreign Affairs, Culture and Information, Public Security, National Defence, Finance, and Transport and other officials.
Health workers have come under praise for their efforts in containing the disease from Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem, who however cautioned them to remain on high alert.
He warned that they, and other authorities concerned, should continue to closely monitor its spread, given its virulence and rapid spread across the region and world.
The Deputy PM was speaking at a meeting on Wednesday with the Health Ministry’s emergency epidemic prevention task force, led by Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Van Thuong.
Thuong pointed out that treatment for the disease was proving effective, with 37 of the more than 50 known cases of atypical pneumonia in Viet Nam beginning to recover.
Fifteen of the recovering patients would be ready for discharge soon, according to the Ministry of Health.
The other patients remain in hospital, with three in a critical condition.
AFP reported on Wednesday that the death toll from the mystery respiratory illness that has hit Southeast Asia rose to seven even as the global health scare swept across several more European countries.
But hopes grew of medical progress against the pathogen causing the disease, as lab sleuths identified it as a likely member of a well-known viral family and the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared international containment measures were working, the news agency said.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is the term coined by WHO to describe a disease whose flu-like symptoms of high fever and chronic fatigue can also develop into a severe and sometimes lethal pneumonia. — VNS
