In July 2019 China held national emergency drill for public health emergencies for sudden and acute infectious diseases in Yinchuan

 

As reported by Xinhua News Agency, in Yinchuan on 25 July 2019, the World Health Organization announced that the Ebola disease in Congo (DRC) constituted a public health emergency of international concern. In order to strengthen the prevention and control of imported sudden and acute infectious diseases, and to effectively fulfill the main responsibility of the health system for the prevention and control of public health emergencies, the China National Health Commission adopted a national synchronization video connection method on the 25th. Yinchuan hosted the 2019 national public health emergency drill at the main venue.

This exercise is a comprehensive exercise for the prevention and control of imported sudden and acute infectious diseases. The exercise adopts a desktop deduction model, based on the discovery of an imported epidemic of virus X in Ningxia and a local epidemic of virus X in a province as the background, setting up case discovery and pre-treatment, case information reporting, transfer and admission, epidemiological investigation, and specimens collection and inspection, epidemic confirmation and release, case treatment, and response termination.

Lude Media analysed that this is to train how to cover up pandemic and collect information on mutants information of viruses to assess transmission capacity.

More than 8,200 people from 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Health Committee of Xinjiang Production and Construction Military Corps, as well as some prefectures, cities, and county health committees participated in the exercise of ability and level in disease prevention and control, biosafety, risk communication, etc.

The head of the State Council’s Emergency Administration Expert group Shan Chunchang and other experts commented that the drill started from preventing and resolving major risks in the field of health , the design scenario was close to reality, the drill was well organized, and the national exchanges and interactions were adequate, and its pertinence, practicality and guidance.It has a strong performance, and has better achieved the expected goals of inspection plans, running-in mechanisms, and improving capabilities.

It has been verified by Ningxia CDC that the emergency drill focused on the national and local capabilities and levels in information reporting, joint prevention and control, medical treatment, disease prevention and control, biological safety, and risk communication. The exercise adopts a desktop deduction model, based on the discovery of an imported virus X virus disease in Ningxia and a local outbreak of virus X disease in a province as the background, setting up case discovery and handling, case information reporting, transfer and admission, epidemiological investigation, and specimen collection Inspection, confirmation and release of the epidemic situation, case treatment, and termination of response. During the emergency drill, the command center used video to communicate with Jiangsu, Jilin, Shanghai, Guangdong, Ningxia, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Fujian, and Yunnan for core links such as information reporting, joint prevention and control, biosafety, disease prevention, and risk communication. Other health departments conducted dialogues, experience sharing, and questioning interactions.

　　During the emergency drill, experts from the State Council's emergency management expert team leader Shan Chunchang, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention researcher Li Dexin, World Health Organization expert Chin Kei LEE and other experts commented.

During the Q&A session of the drill, the sub-venues of Jiangsu, Jilin, Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Fujian, and Yunnan successively had full exchanges and interactions with the on-site emergency command hall. Xu Shuqiang, director of the Emergency Office of the National Health Commission, introduced that this is the first national emergency drill for a public health emergency since SARS in 2003, with an unprecedented scale. "The main purpose of this exercise is to effectively implement the prevention and resolution of major risks in our health field, and also to effectively fulfill the responsibility of the health system for public health emergencies." Xu Shuqiang said.

According to reports, the scale of this exercise shows the achievements of China's health emergency system in recent years. At present, China's health emergency has been at the forefront of the world. There are 25 international emergency medical teams around the world, of which China has five. In terms of rapid virus detection, China can quickly detect more than 300 pathogens within 72 hours, and the direct reporting of information has been shortened from the original 5 days to the current 4 hours, leading the world. Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that compared with most previous drills for major natural disasters and disaster accidents, the drill for the import of sudden and severe infectious diseases is more complicated. Feng Zijian said: “It should be said that the scenario envisaged is relatively complicated. During the exercise, the questions and scenarios we set are also difficult. Some questions do not have standard answers. All parties who need to participate in the exercise can go deep. Think and make quick decisions. At the same time, through such drills, you can better expose the deficiencies and areas that need improvement in response preparations and emergency plans."

Shan Chunchang, the leader of the State Council’s emergency management expert group, said that this exercise is based on relevant laws, regulations and emergency plans, and on the basis of in-depth summary of the experience and lessons of domestic and foreign responses to a series of sudden infectious disease epidemics in recent years. Proceeding from reality and reality, it has achieved the purpose of inspecting the plan and perfecting preparations. Shan Chunchang suggested that when responding to public emergencies, it is necessary to respond to social concerns in a timely manner. In today's society, the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases is closely related to the life and health of the general public. It is necessary to respond to social concerns in a timely manner and do a good job in solving doubts.

 

Regarding this exercise, World Health Organization expert Chin Kei Lee commented: "We expect the Chinese government to continue to play a leading role in the field of global health security, and look forward to the continued strengthening of cooperation between the World Health Organization and China in the future."

In recent years, China’s health authorities have given full play to the role of the joint prevention and control work mechanism, and successfully responded to the imported major infectious diseases such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Middle East respiratory syndrome, Zika virus disease, and yellow fever in West Africa, effectively protecting the life safety and physical health of the people. In particular, the joint prevention and control work mechanism and the direct network reporting of public health emergencies have withstood the test of practice, and have been widely praised by the international community. CCP model and CCP plan have been formed, and they have become a beautiful picture of China’s health business card.

The exercise was co-sponsored by the National Health Commission and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Government, and undertaken by the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Health Commission and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Responsible officials of Chinese relevant departments and bureaus of the National Health Commission, responsible officials of relevant departments such as the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Transport, the Emergency Department, the General Administration of Customs, the Bureau of Immigration, and the Civil Aviation Administration, representatives of the health departments of Hong Kong and Macau, and representatives of the World Health Organization participated in the exercise. .