WHO confident in China sharing information on tainted milk
24/9/2008 17:36
The World Health Organization (WHO) is confident that the Chinese
government has provided timely information on the tainted milk problem, a WHO
spokeswoman said yesterday.
"We don't really know the scale of the problem,
but we are confident that the Chinese authorities are informing us in a timely
manner," Fadela Chaib told a news briefing in Geneva.
WHO said nearly 40,000
cases of kidney stones in infants with three confirmed deaths related to the
consumption of melamine-contaminated powdered infant formula have been reported
from across China as of Sept. 21. Almost 12,900 are currently
hospitalized.
According to the spokeswoman, China is not obliged to inform
WHO of this case because it is a nationwide problem, not an emergency with an
international impact or scale.
WHO is therefore awaiting the results of a
full investigation by the Chinese authorities to learn the scale of the problem,
she said.
She added that it was not clear if the peak of the crisis had been
reached or not. As more and more rural families in China become aware of the
problem they are bringing their children to hospitals for
check-up.
Meanwhile, a WHO expert said yesterday that the organization saw no
need for an import ban on Chinese milk products.
Up to now WHO has not
received reports of infants in other countries affected by tainted milk produced
in China, said Danilo Lo-Fo-Wong, a senior scientist in WHO's food safety
division.
WHO is concerned with public health in all member states but "does
not recommend to just ban all Chinese milk products, at least not at this
stage," he said.
Xinhua
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