Emerging infectious diseases in China

Deborah Seligsohn, Environment, Science, Technology, and Health (ESTH) Section at the U.S. Embassy, Beijing

Emerging infectious diseases in China and elsewhere in Southeast Asia have the potential to impact significantly global trade, diplomacy, and research. This was all too clearly demonstrated during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak. Avian influenza is this year's greatest global emerging disease, with human cases reported in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia. HIV is a global disease that has caused significant political and social unrest and reversed decades of public health and life expectancy gains in Africa. China has taken major steps in recent years to face its own growing epidemic. This roundtable will address emerging infectious diseases in China from three perspectives:
1) Public health communications: communicating risk and promoting health. The role of the media and official spokespersons in communicating public health threats is critically important to informing the public. How best to do this in an open manner without causing panic will be discussed.
2) Clinical trials: good clinical practices for research. The ethical conduct of clinical research in international studies is important for human rights, safety, and credibility of study results.
3) Preparedness for and response to HIV/AIDS and other emerging infectious diseases: lessons learned from international experiences. Emerging infections are not new and lessons learned from previous outbreaks can be applied to future ones.

The experiences discussed during these three subsessions will mutually benefit both China and the U.S. in responding to future emerging infectious diseases.