As more information surfaces in China/st1 :place>'s melamine milk crisis, the situation looks progressively worse. According to Chinese health officials, melamine in milk products has sickened about 53,000 throughout China/st1 :country-region>, most of them babies. While most have been released, nearly 13,000 remain hospitalized, with 103 in serious condition. Four have already died. /span>
Beyond mainland China at least two young children in Hong Konghas also developed a melamine-induced kidney stones after drinking Chinese milk imports, though neither is in critical condition. /span>
As a precautionary measure, several countries in Asia and Africa have all banned milk imports from China/st1 :country-region>, and have even pulled some of the existing dairy from their shelves. Even Brunei a country that doesn't import any milk products from China/st1 :country-region> has banned Chinese dairy imports. /span>
China/st1 :country-region>'s Premier Wen Jiabao has apologized for the situation, and had a photo-op this weekend visiting sick babies in the hospital. He says that the Chinese government has already taken measures to improve the dairy supply, and restore consumer confidence. /span>
At least 19 people have been arrested as a result of the melamine milk, and Li Changjiang, who headed up China/st1 :country-region>'s quality inspection agency, has resigned./span>
For many citizens, however, these actions are long-overdue, since there were reports of melamine milk as early as last spring. Furthermore, in order to weed out the bad milk products, many innocent dairy farmers are also suffering tremendous losses, alongside the guilty. Even though ten percent of milk products were contaminated, thousands of tons of milk from all producers have been poured out, resulting in huge financial setbacks.
At this point, we still don't know the extent of the damages, in terms of health and economic costs, but hopefully this event can be used as a catalyst for change and better quality standards throughout China.
