Two sessions: Wuhan lawmaker urges China to fix disease reporting and privacy flaws
- Motion submitted to NPC to amend legislation to overcome problems exposed by the coronavirus pandemic
- Suggestions include addition of timeliness component to prevent costly delays in action
Zhou, vice-president of Central China Normal University, said the changes were needed to remedy failures in the disease reporting system, infringements on the privacy and rights of residents by epidemic control measures, and a severe lack of equipment needed to fight outbreaks.
“The response to the epidemic this time has exposed several shortcomings of the relevant infectious disease prevention and response systems. Amendments to and improvement of the infectious disease law need to be on the agenda,” the report quoted him as saying.
Zhou said the law needed to specify a way to expand the classification of contagious diseases during an epidemic, and to ensure timely reporting and public disclosure of the diseases.Emergency preventive rules also need to be better defined to protect the privacy and rights of individuals, according to Zhou.