EAST CHINA GOVERNMENT TAKES STEP TO CONTROL SCHISTOSOMIASIS EPIDEMICS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700060129-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 5, 2011
• Sequence Number: 129
• Publication Date: April 26, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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REPORT
CD NO,
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1951-1952
DATE DIST. J? Apr 1952
NO. OF PAGES 4
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
EAST CHINA GOVERNMENT TAKES STEPS
TO CORPR0L?SCHISTOS0MIASIS EPIDEMICS
The Chinese Communists have admitted that some 10 million people
are afflicted with schistosomiasia. On 25 December 1951 the Public
Health Department of the East China Military and Administrative Com-
mission issued a directive calling on all available personnel to par-
ticipate in the schistosomiasis prevention and treatment activities.
The Central People's government has appropriated 10 billion yuan to
carry on this work.
The following, articles from two Shanghai newspapers describe the
seriousness of the achistosomiasis epidemic and measures being taken
to control'the disease.
DESCRIBES EPIDEMIC AREAS NEAR SHANGHAI -- Shanghai, Ta Kung Pao, 26 Oct 51
On 21 October 1951, a 200-man investigation team, consisting of teachers and
students from the public health and parasitology departments of the Shanghai Medi-
cal College, went to Ch'i.ng-p'u Haien, near Shanghai, to make an on-the-spot
investigation of scb..itosomiasis epidemics. The following is a report on the
findings of the trip:
Moot of Ch'ing-p'u Heien consists of mvrehes and canals, and the majority
of itn 270,000 population are farmers. The disease is most serious around Chu-
chia-chlo (1) umbers in parentheses refer to appended character87 and Jen-tun
Ts'un (2). During the army recr+aitment drive in Chu-chia-chio from June to
August 1951, only 39 out of 1,326 farmers examined passed the physical exami-
nation. In Jen un Ts'un, 332 persons out of the 341 examined, or 97.3 percen.,
gave positive reactions to the tests. The population of Jen-tun Te'un 15 years
ago was about 700; now it is 461. Of the 3,694 snails examined in Chu-chia-chin,
444 or 12 percent were found to carry cercariae. More than 90 percent of young
farmers, 20 to 24 years of age, in Ch'ing-p'u Helen are afflicted with schis-
tosomiasis..
CLASSIFICATION
AW NSRs
EA,
R . J FB
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CLASSIFICATIOo'',, RESCTED
SSCDRITYTRI IN - TION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY Chi:,a
SUBJECT Sociological - Public health
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers
WHERE Shanghai
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED 26 Oct 195. - 7 Jan 1y~2
LANGUAGE Chinese
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In Ten-tun Ts'un, during the past 10 years, every member except one, in .:
family of nine, has died from the disease. In another family of six, five have
died and the sixth is seriously ill. Of 25 families only one member of each is
now living, and all the members of another 11 families have died from the diseasa
in the past 10 years.
EDITORIAL CALLS FOR EXPANSION OF PREVENTION AND TREATMENT ACTIVITIES -- Shangha
Chieh-fang Jih-pao, 25 Dec 51 ~r
For many years peoplr in East China have been cruelly ravaged with serious
endemic and epidemic infectious diseases due to the negligence on the part of the
imperialist, feudalist, bureaucratic capitalist regime which preceded us. Of all
the endemic diseases, schistosomiasis is the most widespread-and affects the
most people. According to a pre~_iminary survey, there have been nearly 10 million
people afflicted with the disease during the past 2 years in Kiangsu, Chekiang,
Anhwei, Fukien, and other provinces. The majority of the 10 million afflicted are
farmers, boatmen, and fishermen. Schistosomiasis epidemics are most serious in
Ping-hu Hsien, K'ai-h'ia Hsien, Ch'u Hsien in Chekiang; She Hsien in Anhwei; Kao-
yu Hsien in North Kiangsu; Chai-ting Hsien, Ch'ing-p'u Hsien, K'un-shan Hsien,
Yang-chum Hsien, Wu Hsien, and Wu-hsi Hsien in South Kiangsu; and in the Shanghai
suburb.
According to an investigation of six villages in Ch'ing-p'u Hsien, more than
62 percent of tb, population are afflicted with schistosomiasis. ? villrSe with
the lowest rate of contagion is 45 percent; the highest, 81.5 percent. Due to
the schistosomiasis epidemic, the population of Jen-tun Ts'un in Ch'ing-p'u Hsien
decreased by more than one third in 15 years ago. The seriousness of schistoso-
miasis epidemics can be compared to disasters brought on by flood, drought, or .
locust invasion.
Aware of the seriousness of the situation, the government of the People's
Republic of Chine immediately went about making surveys and formulated a con-
crete prevention and treatment program. The Public Health Department of the East
China Military and Administrative Committee also called an emergency conference
to prepare an efficient working program. As a result of the conference, the
latter organization promulgated a directive calling on the people's government
in each level in the seriously affected areas to make the prevention s'1 treat-
ment -rk +heir central task and, under a concrete plan, to l'ad the masses in
systematic schistosomiasis control activities.
Prevention and eradication of schistosomiasis epidemics, and treatment of
victims, are very important and difficult tasks because of the vastness of tae
epidemic areas and the large number of people afflicted.
Effective schistosomiasis control program consists of better handling of
nightsoil; digging of wells and using well water for drinking; protection and
improvement of sources of water. Coupled with the above, it is necessary to prop-
agandize and educate the masses with movies, lateen slides, cartoons, and other
such media in order to mob ?e them to carry out effective prevention and treat-
ment work.
Dying 1952, the East China Public Health Department plans to increase the
number of prevention and treatment stations to 52 and the number of treatment
teams 'o 1,000, train some 10,000 doctors and nurses, and enlist the assistance
of all available-Western and Chinese-style doctors to treat some 10 million
schistosomiasis patients.
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ISSUES PREVENTION AND TREATMENT DIRECTIVE -- Shanghai, Chieh-fan" Jih-pao, 25
Dec 51
On 25 Decenber 1951;the East China Military and Administrative Committee issued
a directive entitled "Expand the Schistosomiasis Prevention and Treatment Activi-
ties." The directive, in its entirety, reads as follows:
Develop Mass Prevention and Treatment Movement
People's governments on each level, especially those in serious schisto-
somiasis epidemic areas, must consider this task very seriously; strengthen theme
leadership; assign cadres to mobilize personnel in cultural, educational, health,
and people's organizations to go among the masses to propagandize and educate them
in the causes, prevention, and treatment of schistosomiasis. In the seriously
affected areas, this propaganda and education movement must be combined with the
increase-production and winter-study movements, and the aid of all available per-
sonnel~from public and privately operated medical and pharmaceutical organs and
people's relief and welfare groups must be enlisted to develop ' an' extensive pre-
vention and treatment movements.
Expand Prevention Work
An important key to the prevertion of schistosomiasis epidemics lies in the
proper disposition of nightsoil. each locality it is essential to educate the
local populace to avoid using fresh nightsoil for fertilizing the fields, to
establish fertilizer cooperatives, and to construct nightsoil storage pits. When
nightsoil is stored for certain definite periods the fermentation and heating
tends to kill snail eggs. In addition, it is necessary to arouse the masses to
agree voluntarily to avoid contaminating the water source by not washing-night-
stools, etc.* in river waters; to drain stagnate pools or to fill infected ponds,
swamps, etc.; to dig wells and to use well water for drinking purposes; and to
post keep-off signs forbidding bathing and wading in contaminated ponds, swamps,
canals, end ditches.
Expand Treatment Work
Mobilize city health workers; train prevention and treatment personnel in
short-term training clasees; and organize investigation and treatment teams to
work in echistosomiasis epidemic areas. Hsien or ch'u people's governments in
seriously affected areas must assign cadres to direct treatment work in rural
areas, and to encourage close cooperation between investigation and treatment
teams with the relevant hsien or ch'u health centers or stations.
Strengthen Government Leadership
Each public health office of the East China Military and Administrative
Committee and the Chekiang, Anhwei, South Kiangsu Administrative Office gov-
ernments must establish an activity and technical direction committee con-
sisting of responsible medical and pharmaceutical specialists from each office.
In serious schistosomiasis epidemic areas, the chairman of each special com-
missioner's office, hsien, ch'u, or hsiang government, must organize schistoso-
miasis prevention and treatment units. People's governments on each level must
arouse the masses. Health and pharmaceutical workers must join the mass pre-
vention and treatment movement.
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To control schistosomiasis epidemics in Chekiang, North Kiangeu, South
Kiangeu, South Anhwei, and Fukien, the Public health Department of the East
China Military and Administrative Committee designated certain districts to
carry out schistosomiasis prevention and treatment experiments, and also called
an emergency conference to formulate a concrete program.
Schistosomiasis epidemics have been prevalent in East China for some 30
years. They have beer especially severe in the past few years due to negligence
on the part of the Kuomintang government. At present, the epidemics are affect-
ing 97 hsi.ens in East China. The epidemic areas in different provinces are as
follows: North and South Kiangsu -- 36 hsiens, including Sung-chiang. Ch'ing-
p'u, Chia-tung, Wu-hsi, Cheng-chiang, Chia-shah, K'ai-hua, Ch'u, and Chu-chi;
Anhwei (mostly in South Anhwei) -- 18 hsiens, including Chi-ch'i, She, and in
Yen-ch'i; Fukien -- 4 hsiens, including Fu-chiang, Ch'ang-lo, P'u-t'ien, and
Ma-mi.
In mid-October 1951, Kung Nai-ch'uan, deputy chief of the Public Health
Department, East China Military and Administrative Committee, made an inspection
tour of a seriously affected area in Ch'ing-p'u Hsien. According to his report,
schistosomiasis patients are being treated with a medicine called san-chic-t'i
(3) which is now being manufactured in large quantities domestically. The report
also stated that the work in Ch'ing-p'u is not progressing very satisfactorily
due to lack of prevention and treatment personnel.
DECIDES CONCRETE CONTROL. PROGRAM -- Shanghai, Chieh-fang Jih-pao, 7 Jan 52
On 25 December 1951, the Public Health Department of the East China Mili-
tary and Administrative Committee held an emergency conference to decide on a
concrete schistosomiasis control program. The conference decided to mobilize
medical students an, teachers to carry out prevention and treatment work during
their winter vacation. The conference also decided to spend 5 billion yuan on.
schistosomiasis control work.
In accordance with the conference decision, Shanghai school teams to carry
out prevention and treatment work during 1-20 February 1952 are as follows:
Shanghai Medical College -- 20 teams to work in Ch'ing-p'u Hsien; T'ung-chi
University -- 12 to 16 teams to work in Chia-ting Hsien; Tung-te University --
20 teams to work in Wu-hsi Hsien; St Johns University -- 30 teams to work in
Sung-chiang Hsien; Chen-tan University -- 2, team[ to work in Mu- (4): and
Chekiang University and Chekiang Medical College Ln-umber not given- teams from
the two schools to aid the Shanghai Army Medical School teams at the nchistoso-
miaaie prevention stations and centers in western Chekiang.
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