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Vietnamese SARS experts visit Taiwan for meetings

Two medical experts from Vietnam are in Taiwan to share their experience and expertise in containing SARS, according to sources from the Department of Health (DOH).

After reporting its first SARS case in early March, Vietnam managed to quickly contain the outbreak and the World Health Organization said on April 28 that the country had brought the disease under control.

Dr. Le Dang Ha and Dr. Cao Van Vien, president and vice president of the Tropical Diseases Hospital in Hanoi, yesterday took part in a meeting convened by the SARS Prevention and Relief Committee under the Executive Yuan to offer tips to Taiwan in fighting SARS.

Lee Ming-liang (李明亮), head of the committee, said that the lack of negative-pressure wards in Vietnamese hospitals, in which the pressure is kept artificially low so that potentially contaminated air does not flow out when doors are opened, actually contributed to the country's ability to contain the disease.

Ventilation

To make up for the lack of the wards, he said, hospitals kept all the windows open, allowing good ventilation that prevented hospital workers from catching the disease.

Health Minister Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) welcomed the two Vietnamese health experts, saying that their visit would help Taiwan gain insight into SARS-related issues.

Chen and officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Center for Disease Control took part in a videoconference Thursday with Singaporean Health Minister Lim Hng Kiang and other officials on the prevention and treatment of SARS.

Chen said Taiwan had learned a lot from Singapore in tracing and monitoring individuals suspected of having SARS and containing the potentially deadly flu-like disease within hospitals through the use of high-technology communications equipment.

Compared to Singapore, Taiwan has encountered greater difficulties in stemming transmissions from abroad and within medical facilities because of its larger population, frequent exchanges with China and different health-care systems, Chen said.
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