Conditions set for giving medicine in kindergarten

The Ministry of Education issued a notice on Tuesday requiring that kindergartens and primary and middle schools follow certain regulations when they organize children and students to take medicine collectively to prevent common diseases.

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The notice said there are five conditions that the kindergartens and schools must meet before giving medicine to large numbers of children.

The five conditions are: Medical experts must think it's necessary for students to take the medicine collectively; health and education authorities of the city or higher level should permit and come up with a detailed treatment plan; students and their parents should be informed and they must agree to taking the medicine; doctors should be on the scene to instruct students to take the medicine; and the medicine should be purchased from good pharmaceutical enterprises.

The notice was released after a series of news reports on two kindergartens — one in Shaanxi province and the other in Jilin province — that forced children to take moroxydine, a prescribed drug that fights the flu virus, without informing the parents. Some children felt sick after taking the drug.

The notice said the two cases are under investigation and the people involved will be punished.

The notice also mentioned that education and health departments from across the country will carry out inspections of kindergartens and primary and middle schools to see whether there are cases of forcing students to take medicine collectively without permission.