China International Travel Healthcare Association
Liu Zhiyong, MD and Yin Jian
The China International Travel Healthcare Association (CITHA) was officially approved in 1994 by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China. The purpose of the Association is to bring together specialists, scholars, professionals and others interested in travel healthcare in order to improve the health care of Chinese persons traveling overseas and of foreigners visiting China.
CITHA has assisted in setting up local international travel healthcare associations in over 30 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and ports throughout the country. CITHA-designated travel clinics have opened in more than 100 cities and ports. These offer full travel medicine services in a planned and organized way, including physical examination, consultation, health education, disease prevention, vaccinations, and health insurance, for example. CITHA is also involved in strengthening the professional management of frontier (border) health, and supervising and inspection of imported food.
CITHA has organized nationwide and regional academic activities in travelers' health. For example, since 1995, there have been 8 CITHA-sponsored conferences held in Shanghai (1995), Urumqi (1996), Guangzhou (1997), Xiamen (1998), Hohhot (2000), Shanghai (2002) and Chengdu (2004 and 2006). Also, many CITHA members have attended conferences sponsored by the International Society of Travel Medicine, Asia-Pacific Travel Health Conference, and European Travel Medicine Conference. CITHA has been involved in travel medicine workshops and conferences in Taiwan, Russia, and Mongolia.
CITHA has organized nationwide travel medicine-related training in psychology consultation, research methods, writing papers, medical assistance and diagnosis. And seminars have been organized in altitude medicine, the environment of travel destinations, infectious diseases, vaccinations, and port health control, for example. And every year CITHA selects Chinese international travel healthcare workers to study at the travel medicine clinic of the University of Washington in Seattle America.
Under the leadership of the Department of Health Supervision (AQSIQ), CITHA has worked with more than 100 members of local Chinese international travel healthcare centers to set up a web site, http://www.itha.org.cn. This site provides complete and rapid information services to travelers about entry-exit regulations, physical examinations, immunizations, and travel health consultations.
The main website is run by CITHA, the local websites by local centers. The data on the websites are targeted to travelers' needs. The network enables users to share public and personalized information at each local center. A visitor can get information about epidemic situations, physical examination and immunization, for example, from any of the websites and can easily get the service information offered by any clinic.
There are more and more foreign travelers coming to China. Tourism is booming here. In 2008, travelers from all over the world are expected to attend the Olympic Games. As the only international travel healthcare society in China, CITHA is obligated to disseminate information to provide travelers the knowledge of infectious diseases and other travel health risks. Disease prevention brochures and posters will be printed and there will be notices on our websites to educate travelers. Presently the website is mostly in Chinese; the English version will be posted soon.
In September 2006, CITHA and the China Frontier Health Quarantine Service co-hosted an academic conference in Chengdu, Sichuan. The theme: New Situation, New Challenge, New Idea, New Measures. Two hundred experts and scholars in territory health quarantine and travel medicine from all over China gathered to exchange the latest achievements in scientific research. The program included plenary sessions, symposiums, abstracts and poster exhibits. The topics covered show the wide area of interest of the Chinese medical community: Here is a sampling of topics that were covered.
- Building a Harmonious Socialist Society
- Reinforcing Crisis Management and Quarantines at Frontiers in Health Emergencies
- Biological Terrorism
- Reviewing the New International Health Regulations of the World Health Organization.
- Overview of Laboratory Biological Safety
- Food Safety at Frontier Ports
- Vector Control
- Disease Surveillance and Immunizations
- HIV/STD
- Lab Technique and Method
- Computerized Network Construction on Health Quarantine Supervision
- International Cooperation and Exchange of Health Quarantine Technology
Dr. Liu is the Director of the Department of International Liaison, China International Healthcare Association, Counselor on the executive board of the Asia Pacific Travel Health Association and Science Editor of Travel Medicine (China).
Yin (Jimmy) Jian is the project manager in the Department of International Liaison, China International Healthcare Association.
