Although most UCLA students may feel Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome is far enough away to be harmless to them, other students
are taking action.
The Chinese Students and Scholars Association began gathering
donations on Bruin Walk on Tuesday to help doctors fight SARS half
a world away. The donations will be used to purchase medical
equipment for doctors in China.
“The situation is really getting worse. There’s no
improvement at this time and there are quite a few doctors putting
their lives at risk to save victims,” said Victor Liu, a
fourth-year computer sciences graduate student and member of
CSSA.
Liu explained China was caught off guard by the disease and is
running out of critical medical supplies, such as special face
masks and filtration devices.
“China is not prepared. None of the countries in the world
are prepared for this deadly disease,” he said.
The CSSA was inspired to take up donations after students at the
University of Michigan shipped 2,000 masks to Chinese doctors.
The idea of shipping equipment instead of money appealed to
students because rampart corruption in the Chinese government could
divert medical funds for other purposes, said Margaret Chu, an
activities director for CSSA.
Chu said she would like to collect $5,000 by next Friday. On the
first day of collection the CSSA collected $271.
The money will be used to buy special SARS masks, isolation
gowns, and respiratory machines. Air China offered to fly the
equipment for free to Beijing, Shangxi and Inner Mongolia.
“There are the three most severe areas that were really
hit hard,” Chu said. “We’re looking for contacts
at the local hospitals (to deliver the supplies.)”
Since it first surfaced in China’s southern province of
Guangdong, SARS ““ a new deadly form of pneumonia ““ has
infected over 6,800 worldwide and killed 497 people as of
Wednesday. Two hundred and nineteen of those fatalities were in
China.
The epidemic has caused many governments to react very
cautiously when dealing with SARS-affected countries. Russia is
considering imposing restrictions along its Chinese border.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. government had
permitted customs and immigration inspectors at airports to use
force to detain passengers who appear to have SARS symptoms.
And last Friday, UC Berkeley announced it would not permit
students from SARS-affected countries to attend the university over
the summer.
UCLA has yet to formulate a policy regarding SARS.
The disease has also galvanized an attempt by the international
community to find a cure. European health ministers agreed to spend
an extra $23 million on developing a SARS vaccine, and U.S.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said China
and the United States would work closely on SARS.
With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.