中国追责疫苗丑闻责任人 China to punish officials in vaccine scandal

Hundreds of Chinese officials are to be sacked or demoted for their part in a vaccine scandal that has added to discontent at poor oversight of food and drug safety, especially relating to children.

数百名中国官员将因为他们在疫苗丑闻中的角色而受到撤职、降级等处分。这场丑闻加剧了中国公众对食品和药品安全监管不到位（尤其是涉及儿童的食品和药品）的不满。

Xinhua, the state news agency, said late on Wednesday that 357 officials are to face punishment, with 192 criminal cases already filed and 202 people detained after improperly stored or transported vaccines were sent to 59 health institutions.

官方的新华社周三晚间报道，357名公职人员面临处分，各地已有刑事立案192起，刑事拘留202人。此前储存或运输不当的疫苗被送到59家卫生机构。

This is the latest in a string of food and drug safety scandals in a country where parents often import products for infants and babies from overseas to ensure quality. Many remember with fear the 2008 milk powder scandal, in which infant formula laced with melamine caused at least six deaths and 300,000 children to fall ill.

这是中国一连串食品和药品安全丑闻的最新一例，中国的父母往往从海外进口婴幼儿产品，以保证质量。许多人仍对2008年曝光的配方奶粉丑闻有恐惧记忆，在那场丑闻中，三聚氰胺被故意掺入婴幼儿配方奶粉，导致至少6名婴幼儿死亡，30万幼童患病。

Beijing last month made public an illegal operation in eastern Shandong province in which a hospital pharmacist and her daughter traded $88m in vaccines that may have been compromised because they were expired or improperly stored or transported.

北京方面上月公布了发生在华东的山东省的一起非法活动，一个医院药剂师和她的女儿买卖了价值8800万美元的问题疫苗，这些疫苗因为过期或者储存或运输不当而可能已经变质。

The China Food and Drug Administration said, however, that the vaccines posed no greater than the normal risk to patients. “We don’t see that the vaccines’ effectiveness has been reduced,” added the health watchdog in a report.

不过，中国的国家食品药品监督管理总局称，接种涉案疫苗不会对受种者带来常规不良反应以外的安全性风险。“没有发现涉案疫苗有效性下降的情况发生，”这家卫生监督机构在《山东济南非法经营疫苗系列案件涉案疫苗接种安全性和有效性风险评估报告》中补充称。

Nonetheless, health officials fear a backlash against Chinese-manufactured vaccines, which already have a reputation for being more dangerous than those made overseas. Importation of many vaccines is banned.

尽管如此，卫生官员担心中国生产的疫苗遭遇反弹；国产疫苗本来就有比进口疫苗更危险的名声。中国禁止进口许多疫苗。

Wang Yuedan, deputy director of Peking University’s immunology department, said the key to evaluating risks is to check whether package seals are broken or for contamination with micro-organisms. “The vaccines in the Shandong case don’t have those problems,” he said.

北京大学免疫学系副主任王月丹表示，评估风险的关键是检查包装密封是否破损，或者有没有微生物污染。“山东发生的问题疫苗案没有这些问题，”他表示。

Those vaccines had been subject to higher than normal temperatures that could have lowered their effectiveness and reduced their protective value. But the official investigation showed the vaccines “are still effective”, he said.

曾经暴露于高于正常温度的那些疫苗，其有效性和保护价值可能有所下降。但他表示，官方调查显示，涉案疫苗“仍然是有效的”。

Beijing, which publicised the affair almost a year after it was exposed, and several years after it started, appeared eager to show commitment to crack down on abuses by announcing the action, political analysts said.

政治分析人士表示，北京方面在案发近一年后、涉案行为开始几年后公布此案，似乎急于通过宣布采取行动，展现严厉打击违法行为的承诺。

The CFDA said a system was being set up to track vaccines from production to use.

国家食品药品监督管理总局称，正在建立疫苗从生产到使用的全程追溯制度。

The World Health Organisation warned the scandal could jeopardise China’s public health gains if parents become distrustful of vaccines. It also expressed confidence in Chinese vaccines, saying public immunisation campaigns had eradicated polio and sharply reduced cases of hepatitis B and measles.

世界卫生组织(WHO)已警告称，如果父母变得不信任疫苗，这场丑闻可能危及中国的公共卫生进展。该组织还表示对中国疫苗有信心，称中国的公共疫苗接种行动已经根除了小儿麻痹症，还大幅减少了乙型肝炎和麻疹的病例。