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Tragedy of vaccine deaths
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-25 08:47
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If local authorities don't conduct a proper investigation into the vaccine deaths in Shanxi province in time, they will lose credibility among the public, says an article in Beijing Times. Excerpts:
The public suspects that local officials' corruption or malfeasance was responsible for the vaccine deaths in Shanxi. The local health authorities' stagnant investigation and indifference toward the media have undermined their credibility further.
The children who died are not the only victims of the vaccines. The local government's credibility, too, is a victim. Although the Shanxi provincial government has begun emergency medical services, it's a pity that the province's public health department turned a blind eye to the problems exposed by the media and insisted that the reports were not true. As the top provincial health authority, it failed to realize the importance of self-correction and procedural justice in handling the crisis.
To regain the public's trust, the local authorities have to find the people responsible for the tragedy as soon as possible and put them behind bars. The Shanxi provincial people's congress should supervise the local authorities' work of dealing with the situation properly and responsibly. Besides, the Shanxi authorities should show more respect to the media and make all relevant information public.
(China Daily 03/25/2010 page9)
