China Is Faulted on SARS

A team of World Health Organization experts on Wednesday said that China has underreported the numbers of Chinese affected by the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Military hospitals in the capital have not reported SARS statistics to municipal health authorities, the team said, adding that they had been banned from disclosing the details of their visits to the hospitals.

“Indeed, there have been cases of SARS -- there’s no question about that -- that have also not been reported officially,” WHO virologist Wolfgang Preiser told reporters after a five-day investigation in the capital. “The military seems to have its own reporting system, which does not link in presently to the municipal one.”

The WHO experts recommended that Chinese authorities change the reporting system. Chinese health ministry officials have maintained that their figures included military hospitals. The criticism comes as China’s leadership is trying to publicize its commitment to combating SARS.

Over the weekend, Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to redouble official efforts to meet the threat posed by SARS.

President Hu Jintao toured hospitals in Guangdong province, where the outbreak is thought to have originated.

China has insisted the outbreak is under control and that it is safe to live and travel in Beijing.

WHO officials said they discussed with Chinese officials their differing definitions of “under control” and “safe.”

The team also warned that China was facing an international lack of confidence in its handling of the outbreak.

If Chinese officials “don’t deal with this issue properly, then they will never get over the issue of mistrust,” said WHO’s China representative Henk Bekedam.

“We have very clearly said, look here, you have an international community over here which at this very moment does not trust your figures.”

The WHO experts visited People’s Liberation Army hospitals No. 301 and No. 309, and hospitals designated to treat Chinese and foreign SARS patients in Beijing.

Team members said that they could not release the details of what they saw in the military hospitals without permission from China’s defense ministry.

The visits followed recent allegations by retired military surgeon Dr. Jiang Yanyong that health officials had ordered a cover-up of SARS-related deaths in the military hospitals.

In light of its investigations, the team called the allegations “very credible.”

Before investigating Beijing, the WHO experts toured southern Guangdong province, where SARS has claimed most of its victims in China.

However, the team found that region to be ahead of the capital in its ability to isolate SARS patients, trace transmission of the disease and provide information to experts and citizens. Guangdong authorities included military hospital cases in their statistics.

Beijing’s failure to detect and report all its SARS cases made it hard to determine the actual number, but Alan Schnur, the WHO’s Beijing-based expert in charge of communicable diseases, estimated the number of cases at 100 to 200. Beijing claims only 37 cases and four deaths.

The team said more than 1,000 people are currently under observation in Beijing for SARS symptoms.