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CHINA-HEALTH-POLITICS-VACCINES-PROTEST
Chinese parents stage rare public protest over vaccine scare
BEIJING, July 30, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – About a dozen people held a rare
protest outside China’s Health Ministry to demand action over a vaccine
scandal that has inflamed public fears over the safety of domestically
produced drugs.
Video clips of the daring demonstration in front of the ministry were
widely circulated on Twitter and other social media on Monday, showing the
protesters holding banners urging accountability and justice in the latest
case.
“Legislation for vaccines is imperative! Handle this properly and
responsibly!” they shouted in the footage.
Social media posts said the demonstration took place on Monday but AFP was
unable to independently confirm that.
The fate of the protesters, whose banners described them as parents, was
not known. An AFP journalist who arrived later at the location found no one
there.
Chinese security personnel typically react quickly to shut down public
expressions of dissent, often detaining those involved.
China’s latest product-safety scare emerged more than a week ago with news
that major pharmaceutical manufacturer Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology had
fabricated records and was ordered to cease production of rabies vaccines.
The government has said the suspect vaccine did not enter the market, but
the case has provoked unusually strong outrage from Chinese consumers fed up
with recurring safety scandals.
The protester’s banners bore headlines saying “Vaccines?” and messages
including “Please give the victims justice”.
As information about the vaccine scandal emerged over the past two weeks,
parents vented anger online, prompting the ruling Communist Party’s internet
censors to swoop in and purge mention of the issue.
The anger was exacerbated by the additional revelation that Changsheng’s
vaccine for diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) had also failed to meet
quality standards, but that 250,000 doses were nonetheless sold last year.
The depth of public outrage appeared to have caught authorities off-guard,
and national leaders have vowed a thorough safety clean-up of the
pharmaceutical sector.
Police in the northeastern city of Changchun, where Changsheng is based,
have said 15 people, including the company chairwoman, had been detained for
unspecified crimes.
China is regularly hit by scandals involving unsafe food, drugs or other
products despite repeated official promises to root out the corruption and
shoddy manufacturing that is usually blamed.
Vaccines in particular have been hit by repeated scares, touching an
extremely sensitive public sore point due to the potential impact on
children.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1416 hrs