[Letters] Proactive protection needed

Regarding the editorial, “Can we trust the KFDA?” [April 13] my opinion is that the Korean Food and Drug Administration should be scrutinized again and again until people completely trust it.

The KFDA unknowingly allowed the import and use of asbestos-contaminated talc which is necessary in the making of medicines, cosmetics, medical gloves, baby powder and some food products. Moreover, it suddenly banned 1,122 items, getting many people into serious health problems and difficulties in getting alternative medicines.

The government is wasting taxes on product recalls. It should have invested a lot more money in the KFDA beforehand because it hasn’t been mobilized enough to work with a swift response on food and drug problems. It needs enough staff members and money in order to work in a more specialized and efficient way because they should do more research to monitor and track food and drugs. In addition it has to build an infrastructure for cooperation with other parts of the government.

The KFDA should promote the production of alternative products by product recalls and bans on sales as well as by reinforcing regulations on approval processes for medicines, food and other household products. If it keeps choosing the easier way, neglecting the potential for danger, our health will not be assured anymore, nor will people in Korea be free from doubts and anxiety.

The government tends to put an emphasis on policies with high visibility like creating streams downtown and supplying computers to needy families while neglecting the basic problems that are not easily detected but important for a healthy society. I think this is the right time to change. Better late than never.

Myungsoon Lee, sunnylm64@hanafos.com