"China Detains, 'Disappears' Parents of Faulty Vaccine Victims", 20 Sep 2018

…Dong Junhua, the parent of a child affected by substandard vaccines from Dancheng county in the central province of Henan, is being held under criminal detention on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," his wife said in a recent interview…Meanwhile, Shanghai-based vaccine campaigner Tan Hua "disappeared" in Beijing on Sept. 3 after going to the capital to campaign for compensation for disability, which she says is linked to a rabies vaccine several years ago. Police also detained Hu Changjie…for nine days under administrative detention for "disrupting public order," while Jiang Peng of Henan's Hebi city was held for six days on the same charge, and Zou Wanli from Guangshan county was held for 10 days' administrative detention, CHRD [Chinese Human Rights Defenders] said.

"Protesters against government mishandling of scandals over faulty vaccines faced [a] swift police response after trying to demonstrate on Tiananmen Square…" [CHRD] said in a statement on its website. "The protesters were ... victims of faulty vaccinations, which were believed to have caused permanent health damage, as well as their parents and supporters," it said…

He Fangmei became a vocal advocate for families hit by substandard vaccines after the couple's daughter developed gray matter spondylitis from a substandard diptheria tetanus-whooping cough vaccine made by Wuhan Biotechnology at the age of three months. The couple has also been banned from overseas travel, on grounds that they may "endanger state security," the group said. "The couple had hoped to take their sick child overseas for treatment," it said…Parents are calling for a vaccine law, and more timely public information about vaccine safety, as well as help with mounting medical bills for their children, some of whom are severely disabled after receiving substandard vaccines.

China fired senior provincial food and drug administration official Jin Yuhui last week, and is investigating a former top drug regulator after a safety scandal at vaccine maker Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology in the northeastern province of Jilin. More than 40 government officials…have been held sanctioned over the scandal by various administrative punishments…