A disease notification mechanism set up during the fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) by the health departments in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao was extended to all types of communicable diseases that may threaten the health of residents in the South China region.

Health officials from the three regions signed the agreement here Tuesday, which stipulates that the health departments should conduct a monthly notification on the situation of communicable diseases in the region.

Under the agreement, the health departments should make a copy for each other's reference when they make written reports to the local governments on the situation of communicable diseases that appear in the region, so that they can carry out joint disease prevention, treatment and monitoring. Data on the analysis resultsconcerning communicable diseases and the virus should also be shared.

Koi Kuok Ieng, director of the Macao Health Service, said that with the signing of the agreement, the notification mechanism can now be applied to the diseases that have posted a potential dangerin the region, which include Dengue fever, cholera and encephalitis.

He said that the Macao Special Administrative Region has substantially benefited from the notification mechanism after the outbreak of SARS, which has helped curb the virus spreading from the neighboring regions of Guangdong and Hong Kong.

The agreement was signed at the closure of the Second Experts' Meeting on the SARS Prevention and Treatment, during which the name of the meeting was changed to the meeting on the prevention and treatment of communicable diseases. The next meeting was set for November in Guangdong.
(People's Daily   Aug 6 , 2003)