中國政府努力控制疫苗醜聞不良後果

Chinese authorities are scrambling to control the fallout after revelations that $88m in expired or spoiled vaccines have been distributed across China in a trade that continued unchallenged for years.

中國當局正在努力控制“問題疫苗”醜聞造成的不良後果。此前有爆料稱，價值8800萬美元的過期或變質疫苗被分銷至中國各地，而且這一交易多年來一直暢行無阻。

The latest in a string of food and drug safety scandals in the country highlights the ability of unsafe distribution networks to thrive in the absence of public scrutiny. It comes at a time when China is promoting vaccine manufacture as a potential export industry.

作爲中國一連串食品藥品安全醜聞中的最新一例，此案凸顯出了公共監督缺位的情況下不安全的分銷網絡發展壯大的能力。此案曝光的同時，中國正在推進疫苗製造業的發展，以期它日後成長爲一個出口型產業。

Police in Shandong province cracked the ring that purchased and redistributed substandard vaccines 11 months ago but authorities only appealed to distributors to help trace potential victims this week, after Chinese media broke the story.

11個月前，山東警方破獲了一個購買和轉手銷售不合格疫苗的團伙，但直到中國媒體曝光這條消息後，當局纔在本週呼籲分銷商協助查出此案的潛在受害者。

The ringleaders, a doctor and her daughter from the agricultural region of Heze, had been conducting the business since 2010 after being convicted of a similar offence in 2009.

這個團伙的頭目是來自農業地區菏澤的一名醫生及她的女兒。自2010年以來，這名醫生就一直在做這門生意。此前在2009年，她曾因犯下類似罪行而被定罪。

The ring specialised in buying spoiled or soon-to-expire vaccines from dozens of salespeople at vaccine groups, and then redistributing them to vendors, including government-run disease control centres, in at least 10 provinces or cities.

該團伙專門從疫苗公司的數十名銷售人員手中購買變質或快過期的疫苗，再轉手賣給至少10個省市的供貨商，其中包括政府運營的疾控中心。

“We found the storage space to be a mess. There were no proper refrigeration facilities. The vaccines were wrapped in paper boxes with ‘ice bars,’ and the room clearly was not up to standard,” policeman Chen Bo told China Radio International after the case became public.

此案公諸於世後，民警陳波告訴中國國際廣播電臺(China Radio International)，警方發現嫌疑人存放疫苗的倉庫內堆得亂七八糟，沒有適當的冷藏設備，疫苗就包裹在中間塞上“冰排”的紙盒中，房間的溫度顯然達不到標準。

The story of the resold vaccines was first revealed by The Paper, an online news portal in Shanghai that specialises in investigative reporting. The ensuing public furore has led to 37 arrests, this week’s order to trace the potential victims and a statement by Chinese premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday that the case “exposed many regulatory loopholes”.

有關轉賣疫苗的消息最初是由澎湃新聞(The Paper)報道的。澎湃是位於上海的一家專長於調查性報告的新聞門戶網站。報道引起的轟動已導致37人被捕，並促使當局在本週下令查出潛在受害者，中國總理李克強也在週二批示稱，此案“暴露出監管方面存在諸多漏洞”。

Qiao Mu, a former journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the case would have been “completely preventable” if Chinese media were allowed to report freely on misconduct. “The authorities have a tendency of covering up media reports and failing to act until the whole thing blows up.”

原北京外國語大學(Beijing Foreign Studies University)新聞學教授喬木表示，如果允許中國媒體對不當行爲展開自由報道，此案原本“完全可以避免”。“當局有種傾向，就是捂住媒體的報道、不採取行動，直到整件事捂不住了爲止。

“It’s no coincidence that these cases repeat themselves,”

“這類案子反覆出現不是巧合。”

In a similar case in impoverished Shanxi province in 2010, at least four young children died after receiving vaccines that had been left in sweltering heat. The editor of the China Economic Times was fired after his paper broke that story.

在2010年貧困的山西省發生的一起類似的案件中，至少4名兒童在接種曾暴露於高溫下的疫苗後死亡。而在《中國經濟時報》(China Economic Times)報道這條消息後，其總編被解職。

Authorities have not announced any deaths or illness from spoiled or ineffective vaccines in the Shandong case.

在山東這起案件中，當局尚未宣佈變質或無效疫苗導致了任何死亡或患病。

In China’s most notorious food-safety breach, milk adulterated by the chemical compound melamine, the infant formula maker at the centre of the scandal attempted a recall but was ordered by government officials to cover up the problem, for fear of damaging China’s reputation ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. At least six infants died, more than 300,000 fell ill and the reputation of the Chinese dairy industry has yet to recover.

中國最臭名昭著的食品安全違規案，是在奶粉中摻入化合物三聚氰胺。處於那起醜聞核心的嬰幼兒配方奶粉製造商曾試圖召回產品，卻被政府官員下令掩蓋該問題，因爲他們擔心這件事會在2008年北京奧運會(Olympic Games)前夕破壞中國的聲譽。那起醜聞導致至少6名嬰兒死亡、逾30萬嬰兒患病，中國乳品業的聲譽至今仍未恢復。