PROFITS AND POLLUTION

As China strives to become the world's biggest producer and manufacturer there is a horrendous price to pay. "Air pollution will become the biggest health threat in China unless the government takes greater steps to monitor and publicise the dangers of smog, the country's leading respiratory disease specialist warned this week. Lung cancer and cardiovascular illnesses are already rising and could get worse in the future because of factory emissions, vehicle exhausts and cigarette smoke, Zhong Nanshan, the president of the China Medical Association, told the Guardian." (Guardian, 16 March) Zhong said he has been concerned about the problem for 10 years, but his efforts to press for official data have met with silence. During the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he said he asked the environment department for information about ozone and carbon levels, but made no headway. What Zhong does not seem to comprehend is that in their mad dash for profits the capitalist class look upon health risks as unimportant. RD