It is with grave concern that we read in the South China Morning Post yesterday that the pharmaceutical company Cutter may have knowingly supplied a tainted blood product to treat Hong Kong haemophiliacs while another, safer, product was available ('US firm sold off tainted medicine in HK').
As a group of NGOs working to reduce the human suffering due to HIV infection in Hong Kong, we are concerned that people may have been infected with HIV purely due to a pharmaceutical company's concern to cut its losses.
I am sure you will agree with us that if it is a choice between lives and profits, lives must take precedence.
The information about which patients were possibly affected by this incident lies in the hands of the health authorities. It is also the health authorities who would have a clear idea about who knew what was going on and when.
In the interest of securing justice for those whose lives were devastated as a result of HIV infection through contaminated blood products, we have written to the secretary for health, welfare and food and requested him to launch an investigation into the matter.
We feel the bureau has an obligation to thoroughly explore whether there is a possibility of a class-action suit on behalf of the patients against the pharmaceutical company, and if there is, to assist the patients with initiating it.
We understand that the current administration is keen to establish itself as an accountable and transparent one. We believe this issue is an opportunity for the administration to demonstrate this to the Hong Kong public.
