China thanks international community for earthquake assistance

Geneva: China’s health minister has praised theinternational aid effort in the wake of his country’s devastatingearthquake.

Speaking in Geneva on Monday, Chen Zhu said the quake had killed"tens of thousands" of people and "razed" to the ground many"beautiful" towns and cities.

However, he told the 61st World Health Assembly that Beijing wasgrateful to the "many" countries and international organisations,such as the WHO, which had provided humanitarian, technical andmaterial support.

Assistance, Zhu said, had also come from China’s near neighbours,including Hong Kong and Taiwan.

He said, "I would like to express our gratitude to these countries.Natural disasters like this cannot crush the Chinese people. On thecontrary, they serve only to make us stronger, build stronger tieswith the international community and give even greater priority tohealth issues."

Wunna Maung Lwin, the ambassador of Myanmar to Geneva, alsoexpressed thanks for the overseas aid effort following thehurricane which recently struck his country.

He said, "We are grateful to everyone, from private individuals andNGOs to organisations like the WHO for their kind generosity. As aresult of this, the situation is slowly improving and will enableus to overcome future hardships."

A minute’s silence was observed at the opening of this year’sassembly on Monday in recognition of those who lost their lives inthe two disasters.

Other topics to be discussed at the assembly include the threat ofan avian flu pandemic, non communicable diseases such as obesityand diabetes and the thorny issue of intellectual property rightsand the pharmaceutical industry.

The week long assembly will be addressed by two guest speakers,South African archbishop and activist Desmond Tutu and PrincessMuna of Jordan, both of whom are actively involved in promotingpublic health in their countries.

The assembly runs from May 19 to 24 at the United Nationsheadquarters in Geneva.

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