China's reputation at risk
[ 2007-07-09 09:31 ]
China needs to tackle problems with food and drug quality otherwise it risks
serious damage to its credibility on the international stage, the country's top
food and drug watchdog has warned.
"Our country is facing a period with
high risks for food safety," Sun Xianze, a senior official with the State Food
and Drug Administration (SFDA), said.
Sun, director of the department of
food safety coordination under the SFDA, made the warning at a seminar on food
and drug supervision, held over the weekend.
He said authorities faced
an "arduous task" ahead.
A series of Chinese food exports ranging from
pet food to seafood were alleged to contain hazardous chemicals, sparkling wide
concerns over the country's food and drug safety.
"The food security problems have impeded Chinese
agri-products
and food many times in international
trade, and damaged our national credibility and image," Sun said.
To
ensure better quality of food and drug products, the SFDA has stepped up efforts
to push unqualified producers out of the market.
In a statement posted on its website, the SFDA said it had
revoked the production licenses of five drug manufacturers since last July and
also withdrawn the Good Manufacturing
Practice
(GMP) certificates from 128 drug makers mainly in Jilin, Henan, Hainan,
Sichuan and Anhui provinces.
Eleven people were reported to have
died last year taking a drug made by the Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, in
Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, one of the five companies shut down by
the SFDA.
Guangdong Baiyi Pharmaceutical was reported to have made
hemoglobin, which was infected with a virus carried by a donor.
The
administration also revoked the production licenses of three factories in
Fujian, Henan and Hebei provinces.
The SFDA said it had increased the
number of GMP inspectors in pharmaceutical factories and monitored the
production quality of narcotic drug makers across the country during the first
half of this year.
In another development, the food and drug watchdog has
suspended a drug used to treat acute leukemia and rheumatoid arthritis
after
several adverse reaction cases were found.
Several child patients
suffering leukemia in three hospitals in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
and Shanghai felt pain in their legs and even had difficulty walking after being
injected with the methotrexate, a drug produced by Shanghai Hualian
Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, according to the SFDA.
The SFDA has ordered the
local food and drug administrations in Guangxi and Shanghai to reevaluate the
drugs.
(China Daily 07/09/2007 page 3)
Vocabulary:
agri-products：農(nóng)產(chǎn)品
Good Manufacturing Practice：良好生產(chǎn)規(guī)范
leukemia：白血病
rheumatoid arthritis：類(lèi)風(fēng)濕性關(guān)節(jié)炎
Questions:
1. Why was Guangdong's Baihi
Pharmaceutical plant's license revoked?
2. What are the 7 provinces
listed in the article that have come under the SFDA's radar?
3. What are the symptoms several child patients suffering from leukemia
suffered after taking methotrexate?
Answers:
1. They made a hemoglobin that was infected with a virus carried by a
donor.
2. Jilin, Henan, Hainan, Sichuan, Anhui, Fujian, and Hebui.
3. They felt pains in their legs and even had difficulty walking after their
injection.
（英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Linda 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
 Suzann Riddle is a senior double majoring in Health Care
Management and Economics at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. She finds
herself at China Daily Website after visiting many areas of China as a Holland
Fellow, Appalachian's international exchange program with Fudan University.
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