From caru@earthlink.net Thu Dec 9 17:50:58 1999 Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 08:45:11 -0500 From: "Carol S. Kopf" To all and Andreas especially, The following two articles from the China Daily (a newspaper from China) directly links fluoride and thyroid tumors. The third article talks about fluoride pollution from a steel plant causing bone deformities in people and killing sheep. Ironically, in other articles (not included) the Chinese are fluoridating milk to prevent tooth decay and encouraging the use of fluoridated toothpaste. Better health and better lives for poor farmers XI'AN: Project Favour, one of the most important measures used to wipe out endemic diseases in Shaanxi Province, has proven effective since its establishment in 1997. Designed by the Shaanxi provincial government, the project aims to essentially control the incidence of several local endemic diseases - Kaschin-Beck and iodine deficiency, which have troubled the local farmers for centuries - within three years, and to completely eliminate any occurrence of the diseases in five years, according to Huo Yufu, an official with the provincial public health department. Shaanxi has some 2.5 million farmers who live in mountainous areas in northern and southern part of the province, areas with poor geographical conditions, including undrinkable water. The areas also suffer from poor transportation systems. The locals have consumed water poisoned with fluoride for centuries and Kaschin-Beck - a disease resulting from consuming large amounts of fluoride - and iodine deficiency were widespread in the province. Beginning in August 1997, more than 90 million yuan (US$10.8 million) from provincial, prefectural and county governments has been invested to help cure patients and improve geographical conditions in 32 counties with frequent occurrences of endemic diseases. The official noted that more than two-thirds of the province's 2.5 million farmers who lived in the mountainous areas were poisoned by water containing fluoride. The farmers now have access to clean water thanks to the project. In addition, some 8,000 farmers who previously lived in the mountainous areas seriously affected by fluorine have been moved to areas with better conditions, accounting for 87 per cent of those who need to be moved. During the first two years of the project, local farmers have benefited not only in health care, but also in agricultural production. With health improvements, many farmers are now able to produce more crops. Presently, many farmers who were once suffering from both disease and poverty are leading healthier, more prosperous lives, the official added. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: 12/08/1999 Author: MA LIE , China Daily staff Copyright© by China Daily Article #2 Shaanxi to move poorest of the poor from hills XI'AN -- Shaanxi, an inland province in Northwest China, plans to move its poor farmers from high mountainous slopes within the next three years as part of a poverty eradication drive here. Zhang Wei, deputy governor in charge of the programme, said Shaanxi still has nearly 2 million people living below the poverty line. About 244,700 people are kept poor by geography, as they live in areas that prevent them from having basic living amenities, as farmland and water. "In southern Shaanxi's Qinba Mountains, some farmers are living on high mountainside where crops cannot be planted in the extreme cold weather," Zhang said. In some other places farmers suffer from Kaschin-Beck's disease and thyroid tumours because of fluoridated underground water, Zhang said. "In the past these farmers got relief from the local government every year, but in such poor geographical conditions, they could not lift themselves out of poverty, so the government decided to move them to better places," the deputy governor said.The poorest farmers live mostly in northern Shaanxi's Baiyu Mountains and southern Shaanxi's Qinba Mountains, will be moved to rural plains areas in the county and resettled in newly built villages. The provincial and county-level governments will invest 489.4 million yuan (US$59 million) in the resettlement programme over three years, at an average of 2,000 yuan ($241) per farmer, the deputy governor said. Farmers will be allowed to decide whether or not to move, or given the option to move elsewhere. The local government will also sign contracts with farmers to safeguard their rights, Zhang said. The resettlement programme, which has already been put into place on a trial basis, has already relocated more than 20,000 people. The province plans to resettle another 70,000 this year. In order to ensure success, the provincial government also signed agreements with county-level officials, Zhang said. Neighbouring Gansu Province and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which have the same problems, have relocated at least 700,000 people through similar efforts. "The central government desires that poverty-stricken farmers be lifted out of poverty by 2000, and we can meet the goal in Shaanxi if we are successful in the resettlement programme, because the 244,700 farmers are the hardest cases," Zhang said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: 08/06/98 Author: Ma Lie Copyright© by China Daily ====================== Article #3 Steel plant belches poison A MAJOR steel plant in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region spews thousands of tons of fluoride every year, which has caused bone deformities among local herders and has killed thousands of sheep. The impact on livestock is so great that many herders have decided to leave their flocks, the only source of income in the region. Those who remain have seen their living standard spiral downward. Although the local government has protested the pollution for almost 20 years, the problem has not been resolved. The cause is the deeply-rooted protectionism of some government departments which show no concern for people's well-being and the environment. Like many large State-owned enterprises, the steel plant in Inner Mongolia is subject to the direct administration of a department under central government control. The local government's complaints are thus ineffective unless it can persuade the central government department in charge of the plant to take action. Although it may be the case that some large State-owned enterprises need more financial and technical resources to improve waste treatment, some firms with adequate resources use their supervisory departments as a shield to dump wastes freely and escape the enforcement efforts of local governments. This problem is not checked because of the attitude and practices of some officials who ignore the well-being of local residents while making efforts to fulfil their profit targets. (Chen Yali)