SARS, the completion of human gene sequencing and a phoney milk powder scandal in which 13 babies died of malnutrition and 189 babies got sick are listed as the top three major health events in China in the 21st century, according to a survey conducted among 126 medical consultants from across the country.

"Popular Medicine," the magazine that sponsored the survey, said it would be useful in helping people form a "right concept on health" by changing unhealthy ways of life and making people believe health is everyone's responsibility.

Professor Weng Xinhua with Huashan Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai-based Fudan University, said the outbreak of SARS last year demonstrated the close relationship between the disease and the civet cat, "a bitter lesson people should bear in mind that unhealthy ways of life such as eating might jeopardize hygienic security of mankind," he said.

"The eventual victory over the health crisis has proven infectious diseases are not only a matter for the government, but for everybody," said Weng, who is also chairman of Infectious Diseases Society of All-China Federation of Medical Sciences.

China was seriously hit by the outbreak of the epidemic in 2003.Last year, a total of 5,327 SARS cases were reported on the Chinese mainland, 4,959 patients were cured and discharged from hospital, and 349 died. More than half of the cases and deaths were in Beijing.

Source: Xinhua