China has set up a national work group for immunization planning that will suggest ways to ensure vaccines are safe, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday. The work group, led by a vice-minister of health, will analyze all incidents involving vaccine safety over the past few years to find the root sources of problems, Gao Fu, head of the center, said at a news conference. He didn't name the minister. Vaccines made in China are some of the best in the world, said Gao, who is also a member of China's top political advisory body. We should have no doubt about the role of vaccines in disease prevention or the quality of vaccines made in China. For example, he said, by promoting immunization, some infectious diseases that once seriously harmed people's health in China, such as smallpox, have been eliminated. Hepatitis B once infected more than 10 percent of the population of China, but now only 0.3 percent of children under 5 years old are carriers because of mandatory immunization. Gao made the comments in light of a series of incidents involving vaccine safety over the past few years. In a major scandal last year, Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences, a vaccine producer in Changchun, Jilin province, faked production records and used expired material for the production of rabies vaccines over the past four years. The company was ordered to suspend production, and senior executives were detained and face criminal charges. The company was ordered to pay fines of 9.1 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) for violations, one of the heaviest fines imposed on a pharmaceutical company over the past few years. Following the revelations, top officials vowed harsh penalties and reform of the vaccine supervision system to eliminate loopholes. A new law on the management of vaccines was drafted for review. Fang Laiying, former head of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, said he has faith in the overall safety of drugs in China, but individual cases involving violations of the law can tarnish the image of the whole pharmaceutical sector. The government is intensifying its efforts in cases involving violations of drug safety laws, including severely punishing criminals and setting up strict accountability systems to improve supervision of the sector, he said. Gao, the CDC head, said major infectious diseases such as dengue fever and AIDS will continue to be the priority in disease prevention and control this year. We will improve health education for the public, including promoting HIV prevention and providing more information to college students, he said. We will also focus on some impoverished regions to help residents improve disease prevention to help them rise out of poverty. custom bar braceletcustom sports braceletscustom logo wristbandsde securite pour personne ageeembossed wristbandscolorfilled wristbandsembossed printed wristbandsdual layer wristbands
Jianbing guozi, a traditional Tianjin snack. [Photo provided to China Daily] International food fans and organizations have shown a keen interest in contacting a new association for the renowned Chinese snack known as jianbing guozi - deep-fried dough sticks rolled in a thin pancake. The association was established this month in Tianjin, the snack's birthplace. Song Guanming, chairman of the Tianjin branch under the Tianjin Catering Industry Association, said he didn't expect all the attention. The food has a history of 600 years in the city and has become a favorite gourmet flavor worldwide, Song said. In every city around China, and even in some other countries, jianbing guozi can be found. It's always beloved, but the ingredients vary by region. Sticks made of bean with a thin pancake is traditional, but in some places, sea cucumber, ham sausage or even squid are added. Three local brands Ersao, Deluzhai and Jinlaowei have been honored as part of the city's intangible cultural heritage. Liu Yushun is a fifth-generation member of the family business Jinlaowei, which originated in 1912. Around the world today, the snack has gained a reputation for diverse cooking styles. But the tradition needs to be inherited and protected from generation to generation, Liu said. He expects the new association to make substantial efforts toward inheriting 600 years of intangible culture, preserving the most traditional flavor. To that end, the association announced it would team up with local quality inspectors to research and release an industry standard, but that will take time. Our move has triggered debates over whether it is meaningful to unify the cooking standards of the food, Song said. However, it's not our aim to make it standard like KFC fast food. We just aim to better regulate the cooking process, techniques and health safety for the time-honored Tianjin style in its hometown. The association indicated that it doesn't mean to regulate the proportions of the ingredients, the taste of the sauce or make every stand selling it provide the same flavor. However, it is dedicated to protecting the techniques of the most traditional jianbing guozi, which the genuine inheritors want to preserve. The association also announced it will open chain services and offer membership certificates to influential and qualified vendors. In an earlier interview with China Daily, Brian Goldberg from the United States said he opened a Mr Bing restaurant in New York and Hong Kong to sell jianbing after he studied the cooking techniques in China. He said jianbing gave him great memories of his student days in China, and his restaurant in the United States soon made headlines. In his restaurant, egg spread over crepe, followed by sea cucumber, scallions, cilantro, chili, roast duck and crispy wontons, make for an amazing experience.
