UNICEF Guilty For More Than 30 Child Deaths

[Guest guest]

Indian Court Finds UNICEF Guilty For More Than 30 Child Deaths

The Guwahati High Court in India's northeastern state of Assam has held

UNICEF and the state government responsible for the death of more than 30

children who died after taking vitamin A supplements in 2001, BBC Online

reports today.

According to the judges, the children were overdosed with the supplements

after UNICEF replaced the traditional two-milliliter spoon with a

five-milliliter cup. They added that health workers were not properly

trained and briefed on how to administer the drug to sick children.

UNICEF said there was nothing wrong with the medicine and that the Assam

government was properly briefed about the change in dose.

The court ordered the government to pay a compensation of around $435 to

each family. The families had previously received $109 from the state

(Subir Bhaumik, BBC Online, Sept. 3). (UN Wire/September 5, 2003)

Indian Committee of Youth Organizations

194-A, Arjun Nagar, Safdarjang Enclave,

New Delhi 110029, India

Phone 91 9811729093

Fax/Phone: 91 11 26183978

Email:icyo@...