Henk Bekedam Quotes (22 Quotes)

The picture is not rosy in China.

Make no mistake, China's AIDS epidemic is growing.

China's HIV infections have been linked to high-risk behavior. But now, sex work is moving it toward the general population.

Roughly half of the new infections are sexually transmitted. The other 48 percent comes from intravenous drug users, and the remaining 2 percent are vertical transmissions from mother to child.

The sex part, which is now increasing as a mode of transmission, is a very clear sign that it might be moving toward the general population.

On the other hand, I would like to stress...the current virus is not easily transmittable to humans. We don't expect a large number of cases.

In the winter, the virus can survive longer outside its own host ... so we expect more cases, especially in this part of the world.

It is hoped that the lessons of SARS have been taken to heart by the Chinese authorities, and that China's leadership in combating the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak will be an example to other countries affected at this time.

A disease in one country is a threat to another, ... the best chance to eradicate or contain a new infectious disease is when it emerges.

We need to share information and samples in a timely manner, in a regular manner and also globally.

China has many challenges. China has a large poultry population of 14 billion and 70 percent of that poultry is being kept in the backyard.

As we have seen in the case of SARS, if there is a strong political commitment to tackling a health crisis, China can succeed in surmounting obstacles in a relatively short period of time,

Ratification of the FCTC by China could not have come at a better time,

We think it is important for the Ministry of Health to share more of what they are doing. We think that that will be helpful for some of the doubts that the international community has.

This allows China to truly join global and regional efforts to curb smoking. Many lives will be saved, public health will be strengthened, and the economy will benefit as well.

Now we dare to say that the SARS epidemic is over its peak period both globally and in China, ... This shows SARS can be contained -- this, despite the fact that we still have no vaccine or cure or diagnostic test.

The challenge now is to eliminate it as a public threat, ... The surveillance system needs to be beefed up to be more sensitive and action-oriented so we can get all SARS cases.

We hope China can share more information and samples of bird flu timely, regularly and globally.

At the political level, the commitment is great.

If you do not have the resources to deal with SARS, I think we're going for a very big outbreak in China.

So far it is primarily an animal disease. The more it is contained to animals, the better.

The virus doesn't differentiate between military personnel and civilians, so it's a problem that military officials don't report their figures to the Beijing government.