Myndighederne i flere provinser i Kina med omfattende industriel forurening afskærer børn fra behandling for blyforgiftning.
Myndighederne nægter at teste børnene, forfalsker eller skjuler testresultater og forældre, menneske-retsaktivister og journalister, som forfølger sager, bliver chikaneret og intimideret. Det viser en ny rapport fra Human Rights Watch.
Chinese government officials in provinces with high rates of industrial pollution are restricting access to lead testing, withholding and falsifying test results, and denying children treatment, Human Rights Watch said in a report released wednesday.
Family members and journalists seeking information about the problem are intimidated and harassed, Human Rights Watch said. Such actions violate Chinese law and condemn hundreds of thousands of children to permanent mental and physical disabilities.
The 75-page report, “‘My Children Have Been Poisoned’: A Public Health Crisis in Four Chinese Provinces,” draws on research in heavily lead-contaminated villages in Henan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, and Hunan provinces.
The report documents how, despite increasing regulation and sporadic enforcement targeting polluting factories, local authorities are ignoring the urgent and long-term health consequences of a generation of children continuously exposed to life-threatening levels of lead.
– Children with dangerously high levels of lead in their blood are being refused treatment and returned home to contaminated houses in polluted villages, said Joe Amon, health and human rights director at Human Rights Watch.
– Parents, journalists, and community activists who dare to speak out about lead are detained, harassed, and ultimately silenced.
MYNDIGHEDER TALER MED TO TUNGER
Over the past decade, numerous mass lead poisoning incidents have been reported across the country.
In response, Environmental Protection Ministry officials have become more outspoken, directing local officials to increase supervision of factories and enforce existing environmental regulations.
The ministry has also said that it will pursue criminal penalties for businesses and local officials who violate environmental restrictions.
However, these promises fall short of addressing the health consequences of lead poisoning and fulfilling the right to health for children exposed to lead, Human Rights Watch said.
Authorities need to make sure that the immediate and long-term health care needs of people in contaminated villages are taken care of, and that the polluted areas are cleaned up.
