International   

Heat wave claims official's head

By Vaiju Naravane

Lucien Abenheim

PARIS AUG. 19. France's Director General for Health resigned on Monday amid much criticism against the Government for its failure to respond to the two week-long heat wave that claimed an estimated 5000 lives.

Lucien Abenhaim, however, accused the Government of seeking scapegoats and said he was resigning "given the present controversies surrounding the handling of the deaths linked to the heat wave". As figures trickle out and the casualty list steadily rises, the real extent of the tragedy is beginning to sink in. Public anger is mounting with relatives of victims infuriated by remarks by the Prime Minister that they had been callous towards their elderly relatives.

The Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said society had failed to show solidarity with the elderly. The Health Minister, Jean-Francois Mattei, admitted that the actual number of deaths was far higher than the 3000 announced last week end.

The controversy has pitted doctors and hospital staff against Government officials, with hospitals screaming for emergency measures while the Government officials tried to play down the gravity of the situation.

Mr. Mattei claimed he was not properly informed by his own health services. In an interview, he repeatedly said that the Directorate of Health had told him the "the situation is under control".

Mr. Mattei also acknowledged criticism from doctors and the political opposition that the health crisis had not been adequately handled.

"We didn't have the information and the warning signals that we should have had," he said.

As temperatures soared to around 40 degrees Celsius in the first two weeks of August and the bodies of heat wave victims — most of them elderly — overfilled morgues and hospitals, the Government was increasingly criticised for reacting too slowly and underestimating the scale of the crisis.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Bush vows to bring `killers to justice'
• Kelly: Campbell denies charges
• Heat wave claims official's head
• France, U.S. heading for another row?
• Killing sparks tension in eastern Sri Lanka
• Russia displays revived air power
• Indian troops on the move in northern Kashmir: Pak.
• Menon calls on Kasuri, discusses bilateral ties
• Case to be filed against Modi in London

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu