使用済みマスクや手袋を取引…闇市場の急拡大で取り締まり　インド

【ニューデリーＡＦＰ＝時事】インドでは、人々が新型コロナウイルスの安価な防護用品を先を争って手に入れようとする中、病院のごみ捨て場から拾い集められた使用済みマスクや手術用手袋の闇市場が急拡大し、警察当局が取り締まりを進めている。（写真は資料写真）
　同国西部ナビムンバイの警察当局は２８日、洗った後に乾燥させ、販売用に梱包（こんぽう）された修繕済みの使い捨て手術用手袋３８０万組を、犯罪組織から押収したと発表した。
　スバース・ニカム捜査官はＡＦＰに対し、「彼らはさまざま病院から使用済み手袋３５トン近くを調達し、販売業者に格安価格で売る用意をしていた」「６０００～１万組を何とか販売し、残りの品を委託するために複数のバイヤーと連絡を取り合っていた」と述べた。
　容疑者４人は、詐欺および感染症を拡大させて人々の命を危険にさらしたとして訴追されたという。
　１３億人の人口を抱えるインドでは、個人防護具（ＰＰＥ）の需要が急激に高まっている。同国の公式統計によると、２８日には累計感染者数が３４０万人に達し、死者も６万人を超えている。
　しかし、インドでは十分な検査が実施されておらず、また犠牲者の数も適切に記録されていないため、実際の死者数はこれを大きく上回る可能性があると専門家の多くが指摘している。この指摘については複数の抗体検査で既に証明されているという。
　インドでは新型コロナウイルスの流行前から、使い捨てられた注射器など、廃棄された医療用具の巨大な市場が存在していた。使い捨て注射器をめぐっては長年、エイズウイルス（ＨＩＶ）や肝炎の感染拡大の原因とみられてきた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/08/31-13:10）

Indian police are battling a booming black market in used face masks and surgical gloves scavenged in some cases from hospital refuse tips, as people scramble for cheap coronavirus protection.
Police in the western city of Navi Mumbai said Friday that one gang had recovered 3.8 million pieces of refurbished single-use surgical gloves that were washed, dried and packed ready for sale.
They sourced nearly 35 tonnes of used gloves from different hospitals and were preparing to sell it to dealers at throwaway prices, investigating officer Subhash Nikam told AFP.
They had managed to sell 6,000 to 10,000 pieces and were in touch with several buyers for the rest of the consignment, he said.
The four accused are facing initial charges of cheating and endangering lives by spreading a communicable disease.
Demand for personal protection equipment has soared in the country of 1.3 billion people, which on Friday saw the official tally of coronavirus infections hit 3.4 million with over 60,000 deaths.
Many experts say that with India not testing enough people and many deaths not properly recorded, the real toll could be considerably higher. Several antibody tests have borne this out.
- Cheap alternative -
Many Indians though cannot afford proper PPE and use cheap alternatives including a handkerchief or scarf wrapped around the mouth and nose.
Health authorities in the eastern state of Bihar said they too have busted several gangs in recent months involved in selling used facemasks collected from hospital dump-yards.
Thousands of masks have been seized that were washed and repacked before being sold to dealers across cities at cheap prices, the official said.
We have conducted several raids in the state after receiving tip-offs about the sale of used facemasks,? an official from Bihar's health ministry said.
The illegal business is at a very small scale, he added, but poses a serious health hazard at a time when the country is reeling under the pandemic.
The virus spread had also fuelled a market for sub-standard sanitisers.
India had briefly faced a shortage of personal protection equipment before it imposed an export ban to meet the rising domestic demand, including from front line coronavirus workers.
Even before the pandemic India had a huge market for discarded medical equipment, including disposable syringes that have been long blamed for spread of infections like HIV and hepatitis.