The central government had been concerned about the situation in Taiwan Province since the first case of SARS was reported there in March this year, said Liu Peilong, director of the Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao affairs department under the Ministry of Health, Friday.

The ministry wanted to exchange information on SARS and other public health issues with relevant organizations in Taiwan, he added.

The central government was willing to provide assistance to Taiwanese people jointly with international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), said Qi Xiaoqiu, director of the ministry's disease control department.

The ministry would take account of the requests from medical workers in Taiwan for technical assistance from the WHO and respond quickly after talks with the WHO, Qi added.

The WHO experts had been invited to attend a cross-Straits medical seminar to be held later this month, he said.

The seminar on SARS, sponsored by the Chinese Medical Association and Chinese Preventive Medical Association, would be attended by doctors from across the Taiwan Straits.

Detailed information on how to prevent SARS, based on the experience in south China's Guangdong Province, had been sent to relevant medical institutions in Taiwan through non-governmental channels, including guidelines for the treatment of SARS, Liu said.

The latest information on the prevention and treatment of SARS on the Chinese mainland was put on line promptly and updated data on the WHO web site was also translated into Chinese, he said.

The ministry welcomed medical workers from Taiwan to come to the mainland and mainland experts were willing to visit Taiwan to improve exchanges, he added.

The ministry has already received some doctors from Taiwan at the request of the Taipei Medical Association.

(China Daily April 12, 2003)