Project to improve standardization of medical protocols launched

A project to enact standards regarding quality control at fever clinics for children and the referral of child patients suffering from infectious diseases to higher-level hospitals was launched on Tuesday, said the Children's Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai.

"The standards are aimed at better standardizing hardware and software requirements and capabilities at the fever clinics and providing pediatricians at both community health centers and secondary and tertiary hospitals with detailed, feasible steps of action after receiving a child with an infectious disease," said Zhai Xiaowen, vice-president of the Children's Hospital of Fudan University.

According to the hospital, such efforts will ultimately boost Shanghai's capability of diagnosing infectious cases in children and treating complicated and critical patients, as well as establish a multi-layered treatment solution that can be used in epidemic response.

"The establishment of standards is expected to be accomplished at the end of next year. The standards will be applied nationwide," Zhai said.

Experts explained that the child infectious diseases referred to in the project are common ones such as influenza, infectious diarrheas, hand-foot-and-mouth disease and COVID-19, among others.

About 20 leading medical workers in various areas, including infectious diseases, respiratory diseases, disease prevention and control, hospital management, and critical medical care, have joined the expert committees for the two standards respectively.

The project is also part of the three-year (2020-22) action plan to improve public health in Shanghai, which has set a goal of becoming one of the world's safest cities with regard to public health by 2025.

A training program dedicated to helping healthcare workers at comprehensive hospitals and community health centers improve their capabilities in identifying, diagnosing, and treating child infectious diseases was also initiated on Tuesday.

Around 120 doctors joined the offline training at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University and about 4,000 participated through a live broadcast.