Shenzhen teams with Brazilian public health institute

The total number of travelers arriving in or leaving from Shenzhen to overseas countries reached a whopping 260 million in 2017, leaving the southern Chinese city vulnerable to an assortment of infectious diseases which require increasingly stringent prevention measures.

On Feb 26, four organizations in Shenzhen signed an agreement with the Brazilian Fiocruz Foundation, one of the world's leading scientific institutions for research and development in biological sciences, in order to strengthen cooperation in the research, prevention and control of infectious diseases.

The Shenzhen-based organizations include the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, leading genomics company BGI, and Chinese telecom company ZTE Corporation.

Four Shenzhen-based organizations sign a cooperation agreement with the Fiocruz Foundation on Feb 26 to conduct research on infectious diseases. [Photo/sznews.com] 

According to the agreement, the parties involved will work together to monitor infectious disease pathogens, detect early warnings of contagious diseases, and conduct disease research in the countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The agreement involves two separate projects, one in Shenzhen and the other in Brazil. The Shenzhen project will be set up at the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen and will be responsible for infectious disease research, international communication, and medical staff training.

According to Liu Yingxia, head of the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, the project will help the hospital build an international public health center and an infectious diseases clinical and research center.

Early in 2016, Shenzhen reported imported cases of the Zika virus, an infectious disease which originated in Brazil in 2015 and subsequently spread to the Americas, the Pacific, Asia, and Africa. Doctors from the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen worked with renowned academicians to develop a detection method as well as an antibody which is able to effectively manage the widespread Brazilian disease.

"The cooperation between Shenzhen and the Fiocruz foundation will promote the integration of valuable medical and scientific resources in Brazil and China, help safeguard the well-being of the people, and advance the Belt and Road Initiative", said Chen Zhusheng, deputy director of the Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province.