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Vice Premier stresses safety in inoculation against H1N1 flu

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-10 09:18

BEIJING: Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called on health authorities to ensure safety in the production, storage, transportation, and inoculation process of the vaccines against A/H1N1 influenza, for the health of the public.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (C) gets to know the examining conditions of A/H1N1 flu vaccine during an inspection of the National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products in Beijing, capital of China, on Nov. 9, 2009. Li Keqiang inspected here on Monday, which further highlighted the government's resolve to carry on the influenza vaccination campaign amid the growing infections. [Xinhua]

Li made the remarks when visiting the Beijing-based National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, where the country's self-developed vaccines against the A/H1N1 flu are tested.

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"Safety and quality are of top priority," Li said, adding that the inoculation of the A/H1N1 vaccines should always be conducted on an "informed, voluntary, and free" basis.

Li noted that autumns and winters were high-occurrence seasons for the flu, and urged the authorities to improve disease prevention and treatment in order to stop the disease from fast spreading across the country.

Authorities should focus on disease prevention in key venues and areas, especially schools, and make active efforts to prevent and deal with mass infection of the disease, Li said.

They should also give stronger support to disease prevention in the central and western parts of the country, especially in the ethnic minority-dominated regions, Li said.

Li asked health workers to try their best to keep the disease's death toll from rising and add traditional Chinese medicines into the prevention and treatment of the flu.

As of Monday, the Chinese mainland has reported more than 60,000 cases of the A/H1N1 flu, of which 30 had been fatal. A total of 242 patients were in critical conditions, the Ministry of Health said.

As of Monday, the country has inoculated more than 87 million people with A/H1N1 vaccines. China is the world's first country to issue a production license for the vaccines against the A/H1N1 flu.