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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2003;289:2929.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced a new $200 million public-private initiative to battle severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) by strengthening disease surveillance, epidemiology, and public health laboratories, especially in China and elsewhere in Asia.

The agency said it was seeking $100 million by September from the international business community, especially firms with operations or markets in Asia, for a special fund to rapidly build a stronger public health infrastructure, especially in China and the surrounding region, WHO officials said.

A cumulative total of 8046 SARS cases and 682 deaths had been reported as of May 22, the day WHO announced the new initiative (http://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/). The Geneva-based World Economic Forum and WHO will form a coalition of business leaders to lead the effort. WHO also plans to raise an additional $100 million, primarily from donor governments, to support expanded disease surveillance and response capabilities across . . . [Full Text of this Article]