Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...-handling-public-bird-flu-h7n9_n_3044776.html
China's Public Still Skeptical Of Government's Handling Of Health Outbreaks
Reuters | Posted: 04/09/2013 10:23 am EDT
By Michael Martina and Kate Kelland
BEIJING/LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - China has earned praise from international scientists for its handling of an outbreak of a deadly new bird flu in humans, but a history of public health cover-ups means the Chinese public is harder to win over.
Even as global authorities have said the new H7N9 bird flu strain that has killed eight and infected 28 is no cause for panic, memories of past health scandals continue to undermine the government's credibility at home in dealing with outbreaks.
Those suspicions have driven anxiety about the human cases in eastern China, and put the government's response under the microscope as much as the bird flu virus itself.
"People aren't fundamentally worried about the bird flu, but about cover-ups and the lack of transparency. The mistrust of the government is far more frightening than H7N9," wrote one user on China's Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo...
China's Public Still Skeptical Of Government's Handling Of Health Outbreaks
Reuters | Posted: 04/09/2013 10:23 am EDT
By Michael Martina and Kate Kelland
BEIJING/LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - China has earned praise from international scientists for its handling of an outbreak of a deadly new bird flu in humans, but a history of public health cover-ups means the Chinese public is harder to win over.
Even as global authorities have said the new H7N9 bird flu strain that has killed eight and infected 28 is no cause for panic, memories of past health scandals continue to undermine the government's credibility at home in dealing with outbreaks.
Those suspicions have driven anxiety about the human cases in eastern China, and put the government's response under the microscope as much as the bird flu virus itself.
"People aren't fundamentally worried about the bird flu, but about cover-ups and the lack of transparency. The mistrust of the government is far more frightening than H7N9," wrote one user on China's Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo...