Indian Court Finds UNICEF Guilty For More Than 30 Child Deaths

Friday, September 5, 2003: 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).

http://www.unwire.org/News/328_426_8110.asp