Premier Wen Jiabao Tuesday urged increased awareness of the importance and urgency of controlling the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases in China's vast rural areas.

At a State Council national teleconference which focused on the fight against SARS and on economic work in rural areas, he called for standardized supervision, enhanced guidance and the concrete implementation of related measures to protect remote rural areas from large-scale SARS infection and to ensure good economic growth and social stability in the countryside.

Thanks to joint efforts nationwide under the supervision of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, said Wen, China has made certain achievements in preventing the spread of SARS.

However, he noted, the epidemic situation has yet to be fully controlled, and the country still faces stark challenges in the control of the contagious disease.

SARS prevention in vast rural areas is a key component of the fight against the disease as it is vital to the health of farmers, to rural economic and social development and also to the overall success of the anti-SARS battle.

Wen underlined the importance of implementing nine major measures in rural SARS control efforts, including strengthening leadership, beefing up education and information publicity, improving epidemic monitoring, setting up a rescuing mechanism, stepping up training and offering free SARS treatment for farmers.

Though the fight against SARS is currently an urgent priority for rural areas, Wen added, economic development remains the central task for the countrymen.

The people across China, should, rallying still more closely round the CPC Central Committee with Hu Jintao as its secretary general and implementing the important thought of "Three Represents" in an all-round way, strive to attain an all-round victory in the fight against SARS and bring about rural economic growth by further increasing their confidence and unity and surmounting all difficulties, Premier Wen said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2003)