Comments on the Report Concerning Epidemic Prevention and Control in North China (March 17, 1952) Premier Zhou: It would seem advisable to issue a circular instructing all localities nationwide to pay widespread attention to the epidemic situation—treating outbreaks where they occur and implementing preventive measures where none exist—and to forward Document [1] on epidemic prevention and control in North China to various regions for their reference. Please consider and act accordingly. Mao Zedong, March 17. Printed from the manuscript. Notes [ ] Refers to the report dated March 15, 1952, submitted by Liu Lantao, Third Secretary of the North China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, to Zhou Enlai and concurrently to Mao Zedong, concerning the epidemic prevention and control situation in North China. The report states that since the beginning of spring in 1952, epidemics have successively broken out and spread across North China, with Hebei and Pingyuan provinces being the most severely affected. The main diseases include influenza, measles, scarlet fever, and diphtheria. People’s governments at all levels promptly grasped the epidemic situation and organized forces to combat the outbreaks. Through these efforts, the epidemics have largely been brought under control in most areas. However, as we are still in the season when infectious diseases tend to prevail, the epidemics have not yet been completely eradicated in all localities. Therefore, it is essential to guard against complacency, continue to mobilize resources to completely eliminate existing outbreaks, and at the same time, engage the masses in launching large-scale sanitation campaigns to carry out comprehensive preventive work, thereby ensuring public health and the smooth progress of spring plowing and drought-relief efforts.