The vice-director of the Ministry of Health, Gao Qiang, recently presented an explanation concerning a draft law that would reclassify infectious disease to the 8th meeting of the the 10th standing committee of the National People’s Congress. In the new draft law, he explained, AIDS, previously treated as a Class A infectious disease, would be managed as a more common Class B disease, and that SARS and the Avian Flu would be treated as Class A diseases, Originally Class C, Tuberculosis and Newborn Tetanus, and Schistosomiasis (bilharzias) will be treated as Class B diseases; and Kala-azar (“Black Fever disease”), and infectious and localized Typhus, originally class B, would become Class C diseases.

According to Gao Qiang, enacting the Infectious Disease Law will legally classify 35 diseases as class A, B, or C infectious diseases. After repeated consultation with experts, the draft law is based on the fundamental principle that disease be classified according to both the danger they pose to the health of human beings and society, and according to the measures that are enacted to control them. Only those diseases whose reclassification was unanimously agreed upon will be changed, if there is any debate then the old classification remains.

According to Gao Qiang, it is necessary to clarify that although there was some debate about classifying the Avian Flu as an infectious disease, it was also necessary to consider that England, Australia, New Zealand, and the Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Taiwan have all determined to treat Avian Flu as an infectious disease, and the WHO also recommended that each country treat the Avian Flu as a Class A infectious disease. Therefore, the draft law classifies Avian Flu as a Class B infectious disease that is treated according to Class A management methods.

In addition, Gao Qiang said that the draft law has reclassified the infectious disease according to their causes, distinguishing between viral, bacterial, spirochaeta and parasitic infections. After the reclassification, the infectious diseases covered by the law include a total of 37, with 2 being Class A disease, 25 being Class C disease, and 10 being Class C disease. It also stipulates that the State Council Health department