Silent Guard

　　

　　Shenzhen, a splendid pearl of China along the coast of Dapeng bay, South China Sea.

　　Under the Open-Door policy, Shenzhen has created innumerous miracles during the 30-year modernization and transformed from a border town into coastal metropolis.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 

　　Adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao, Shenzhen covers a total area of 2000 square kilometers. Although the permanent registered residents are less than 3 million, the total serviced population exceeds 15 million. With the frequent population mobility and the rapid economy development, the public health system has been continuously confronted with new challenges. 　　

　　From the past until now, generations of Shenzhen CDC staff have been sticking to their obligations to struggle against various diseases. Rapidly growing with the development of the Special Economic Zone, the history of Shenzhen CDC can be traced back to Health and Quarantine Group of Bao’an Country Hospital in 1950s. Later, Shenzhen Health and Quarantine Station was founded in 1979 on the basis of Bao’an Country Health and Quarantine Station. In 2002, it was renamed Shenzhen Center of Disease Control and Prevention (Shenzhen CDC). In the autumn of 2010, Shenzhen CDC was moved to Tanglang Mountain from Luohu district. Currently, the Center covers about 50 000 square meters and has an architectural area of approximately 42 000 thousand square meters. The total investment of the project is about 400 million RMB, of which the assets of devices and facilities exceed 150 million RMB.　

　　The Center currently has a total of 264 employees and the professionals account for more than 80%. Among them, 98 are certificated with senior professional titles, 26 with Doctoral Degree, 55 with Master Degree and 86 with Bachelor Degree.

　　Shenzhen CDC is a governmental public institution with 7 functions, including disease prevention and control, rapid response to emerging public health events, information management on epidemics and heath related factors, monitoring and implementing interventions of health risk factors, laboratory testing and analysis, health education and promotion, technology management and applied research and guidance.

　　The Center establishes a network of disease prevention and control covering the whole city with municipal CDC as a leading force, 10 district’s CDCs as hubs, 12 sub district institutes for disease prevention and healthcare as backbones, and 93 hospital prevention and protection departments and 611 community health service centers as network bottom.

　　The Center demonstrated as a pioneer in safeguarding the citizens’ health and maintaining the social stability, not only in the fight against emerging infectious diseases, such as SARS, the highly pathogenic Avian influenza of H5N1 and H1N1, but also against the natural disasters, like Wenchuan earthquake and Zhouqu mud sliding, The Center also plays a vital role in securing public health in the major social events, like 26th Summer Universiade.

　　With the aim to strengthen the monitoring and control of diseases, the Center has established “direct reporting network system for infectious diseases”, “monitoring- alarm-treatment-decision-making supporting system for diseases and public health emergency events”, “monitoring system for flu and unidentified pneumonia”, “monitoring system for infectious diarrhea” and “monitoring system for medical institution disinfection”. With these systems covering the whole city, real-time monitoring, in-time alarm, and effective prevention and control are achieved. The incidence rate of infectious diseases of Class A and B decreased from 2140 per 100,000 in 1980 to 238 per 100,000 in 2011.

　　The Center has established an integral AIDS monitoring network. Since 2001, the Center has begun the prevention and control programs of mother-infant infection of AIDS, syphilis and hepatitis B, and efficiently suppressed the infection of these diseases. .

　　The Center has established the immunization program network with more than 500 vaccination stations covering the whole city, and implemented national immunity plan project by providing 13 free vaccine inoculation services such as hepatitis B for all the children in Shenzhen. Poliomyelitis has been successfully eradicated and the spreading of measles, viral hepatitis and other relevant infectious diseases is under control. .

　　The Center has established a monitoring alarm system for food-originated diseases on the basis of the community health service centers and hospitals. The Center also carries out the risk monitoring and assessment of food safety, and makes significant achievements in the prevention and control of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD).

　　The Center has also implemented some other programs such as municipal drinking water health monitoring programs and heavy metal pollution in the environment and health monitoring programs.

　　With extensive focus on the prevention and treatment of some common diseases as well as monitoring and intervention of student-related health risk factors, the Center built the monitoring system covering more than 260 schools around the city.

　　The Center has established an effective quality management system and implemented lab management information system. A total of 15 categories and 528 testing items are certified by National Certificate Committee, and 16 categories and 539 testing items passed Guangdong Measurement Certification.

　　The Center emphasizes on the construction and cultivation of research capability in disease control and prevention, and thus the capability is greatly advanced. The POPs Laboratory is certified by the National Health Ministry. The Modern Toxicology Laboratory and Major Infectious Disease Monitoring Laboratory are certified as the medical key laboratory of Guangdong province. AIDS prevention and control is one of the medical key subjects of Guangdong province. Medical Molecular Biology Laboratory is certified as a medical key laboratory of Shenzhen. The Transgenic Foods Laboratory has passed the certification of National Certificate Committee, the first laboratory in the system of national disease prevention and control. The BSL3 laboratory has played an important role in numerous major public health events since it was found in 1996.

　　In response to major infectious diseases, the Center has established a cutting-edge technical platform with the capabilities to achieve fast testing, pathogen separation and identification, homology analysis. The platform is also widely used for food safety monitoring, nutritious components analysis, toxicological evaluation, environment and health monitoring. The Center built a SPF-class animal experiment center and developed the studies on disease pathogenesis mechanisms, immunology, cytology, genomics, and proteomics. These studies provided high-quality technical support for disease control and prevention. 

　　The Center implements the strategy of medical development by science and education. During the past 10 years from 2002-2011, the Center undertook totally 258 scientific research projects including 18 National Natural Science Funding projects, 12 Guangdong Natural and Scientific Funding projects, one national 863 project, two national 973 project. The Center participated in six 11th Five-year Plan major special projects of science and technology, 10 international collaborative projects including Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle Scheme. The Center is rewarded with 30 scientific achievement awards, published 10 academic books and more than 1800 scientific research papers, of which over 90 were indexed by SCI journals.

　　The Center now has two experts who were qualified to receive special allowance from the State Council, four experts received the municipal special allowance and 13 people with senior talent certificate by the municipal government. 25 professionals are taking duties in national-level professional societies. Among them, one is the chairman in the committee, two are the vice chairmen in the committee, and two associate editors in national core journals.

　　The Center continuously strengthens international academic exchange and collaboration. In 2010, the Center established a post-doctoral scientific research station, which is approved by National Human Resources and Social Security Ministry. The Center has established Shenzhen Public Health Research School which is based on Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Currently, the Center has been a teaching and postgraduate education base for many famous universities including Chinese University of Hong Kong. Up to now, the Center has nurtured 32 doctors, 94 masters and 8 post-doctors. The Center has carried on collaborations with the U.S. CDC, National Microbiology Laboratory of Canada, Harvard University and Japanese Kyushu University. The Center has established Shenzhen Research and Development Center with other State Key Laboratories including Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Science, Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Xiamen University. The Center also established epidemic reporting and collaborative prevention and control system with Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection.

　　During the past 30 years, Shenzhen CDC safeguarded people’s health with the rapid development of the city.

　　As time goes by, the Center staff stick to the eternal faith of “dare to be the first one”.

　　As seasons change fast, the dedication spirit of “Silent Guard” never changes.

　　Standing under the Tanglang Mountain, Shenzhen CDC is ready to set sail again!