The Clinical Research Base of the National Center for Infectious Diseases unveiled its plaque at the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Xiangzhou on July 6.

The establishment of the base in Zhuhai is considered highly significant for improving the region's sci-tech innovation capabilities and the medical treatment of infectious diseases. The base also plans to build an infectious disease prevention and control system, while also developing procedures and solutions for addressing new and re-emerging infectious diseases.

Plaque unveiling ceremony. [Photo by Cheng Lin / Guanhai App]

The National Center for Infectious Diseases got approval from the National Health Commission in April 2021, and it quickly set up a clinical sci-tech research technology platform for rapid response to major diseases. 

It has initiated and conducted nearly 20 multi-center clinical trial projects, covering coronavirus infections, tuberculosis infections, and viral hepatitis infections, aiming to promote the construction and development of a shared medicine system for infectious diseases.

Professor Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases and director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Fudan University's Huashan Hospital, said during the event that Zhuhai possesses great advantages in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in terms of its unique geographical location, emphasis on public health by the local government, and its overall medical force layout and talent reserve. 

Zhang added that the National Center for Infectious Diseases will strengthen the integration of its medicine and disease prevention protocols during the construction of Zhuhai's public health system. Special emphasis will also be placed on constructing the city's clinical system, and the center will carry out in-depth cooperation in order to eliminate the threat of infectious diseases. 

Xia Jinyu, director of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Center of the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, noted that the hospital will cooperate with the National Center for Infectious Diseases in researching diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, antiviral treatment, as well as bacterial and fungal infections.