On September 3, People's Hospital in Chongzhou City, Sichuan Province, was packed with people
complaining of diarrhea and fever, classic symptoms of food
poisoning. Other hospitals in the city and in neighboring Chengdu
and Wenjiang cities also received dozens of patients, mostly
schoolchildren, suffering the same symptoms. Provincial health
authorities have been unclear since the incident as to exactly how
many people were affected or hospitalized. Xinhua reporters have
discovered that numbers were fudged by officials in an attempt to
downplay the matter.
The students who had taken ill were from Chongzhou City
Experimental Primary School in Chongzhou City. About 1,000 students
are enrolled at the school. On September 1, over 1,000 students and
staff had their lunch in the school canteen. Many were taken ill
soon after. Local authorities at the time said that 45 people were
receiving treatment in various hospitals in the area.
However, Xinhua learned that more than 200 students were being
treated for food poisoning at the People's Hospital, Xiehe Hospital
and Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Chongzhou, and several
other patients had been sent to other hospitals outside Chongzhou
for treatment.
When Chongzhou authorities were asked to verify the matter, they
either said nothing or insisted that their figure of 45 was
correct. According to Xinhua, officials also avoided discussing the
cause of the food poisoning.
An employee at Chongzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital,
who refused to give her name, said on Monday: "Officials have
ordered that we should get permission from the city's health bureau
before we answer questions from the media." After repeated requests
to speak with hospital officials, she said that they could not be
connected. A man who claimed to be the assistant to the hospital
dean said that staff were too busy to count just how many students
they had treated.
Xinhua reporters encountered a similar reluctance by school
staff to provide any information.
Even a press release issued by the Publicity Department of the
Chengdu Party Committee at 8 PM Monday failed to give any exact
figures, but stated that the Chengdu city government was taking
over publicity matters, given the seriousness of the case. Official
permission was therefore required for interviews.
On Tuesday, Liu Jun, deputy director of the Chengdu Health
Bureau, announced that 606 people had been subjected to screening
at the local hospital, but it was unclear whether they had actually
been examined. At press time, 516 students were still under medical
observation.
Liu gave another press conference on Wednesday, saying that 57
people had been diagnosed with food poisoning, and were in a stable
condition. He said that no deaths had been reported.
Disease control and sanitary inspection experts led by officials
from the Sichuan provincial health department are investigating and
helping with the treatment of sick pupils.
Meanwhile, local authorities have pledged that all the victims
of the food poisoning outbreak will receive free medical
treatment.
Classes were suspended on Monday and the entire school compound
disinfected. School sources said classes would resume when most of
the affected pupils have recovered.
In January this year, the State Council issued a national
emergency response plan. The plan stipulates that related
authorities are to release at least basic information about
incidents to the public as soon as possible after they happen.
Confirmed and verified information, measures taken by related
governments and public reminders can be released later. The plan
also stipulates how the late or non-filing or falsifying of reports
are to be dealt with.?
However, a local official who refused to be named said that
incidents such as this, where the number of victims is over 100,
spell major trouble for local governments because they have a huge
impact on their performance evaluations.
(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency, September 7, 2006)