Babies turned away from safe havens
Print Edition
A PILOT program designed to provide shelter for unwanted babies is coming under increasing pressure due to overwhelming demand.
Since its launch in 2011 in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China’s Hebei Province, the program has grown steadily and now encompasses 32 facilities, mostly within orphanages, across the country, The Beijing News reported yesterday.
Over the years, the centers have provided safe haven for more than 1,400 unwanted babies.
But such has been the demand in some areas, including major cities like Guangzhou, Xiamen and Jinan, that many centers are now full to capacity and have been forced to close their doors to new intakes, the report said.
“Most of the children in the centers are sick or disabled, so there is a huge financial burden in caring for them,” the manager of a center in Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian Province, was quoted as saying.
“There is also a lack of skilled health workers, as the wages are very low,” the person said.
The situation is similar at a center in Quzhou, which due to overcapacity problems now accepts only local babies of up to a year old, the report said.
According to official figures, between its opening in May last year and the end of 2014, the center received 24 abandoned infants.
In contrast, facilities in remote areas have plenty of space available. A center in Tongren, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, welcomed just three babies last year, The Beijing News reported.
According to Tong Xiaojun, a professor of child studies at China Youth Political Studies University, the imbalance is due to the fact that parents who leave their children at safe havens favor towns and cities that are likely to have better medical facilities.
“Many of the abandoned children are sick or have deformities and their parents believe they will be better cared for in a big city,” he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
