Civil affairs department of Jiangsu Province reasserted on March 17 that Jiangsu will not close the pilot safe havens for abandoned babies in Nanjing and Xuzhou and it will try to put forward more feasible protection measures on the pilot safe havens.
Overloaded by abandoned babies, Guangzhou Welfare Home has suspended pilot safe havens for abandoned babies from March 16.
It is said the safe havens for abandoned babies in Guangzhou have accepted a total of 262 babies in less than two months since it was opened, which is much more than other cities.
At present, Nanjing has two pilot safe havens for abandoned babies, one in Nanjing and the other in Xuzhou. The one in Xuzhou has received very few abandoned babies, while the one in Nanjing has received a total of 159 babies in nearly three months since it was built last December.
“The quantity of abandoned baby is closely linked with economic development level and medical resources,” said Jiang Tongjin, head of Welfare Office under Civil Affairs Department of Jiangsu Province.
Babies abandoned by migrant parents accounts for a large proportion of the total, and most of whom are seriously ill, which also brings heavy pressures on nursing and funds to welfare homes after accepting the babies, revealed Zhu Hong, director of Nanjing Children’s Welfare Home.
With the surging pressures for accepting new abandoned babies, Nanjing Children’s Welfare Home has transferred part of the babies to its branch institute in Nanjing’s Gaochun County, and it will also seek helps from children’s welfare homes in other areas of Jiangsu.
Although the welfare home is facing many difficulties, it hopes to move on, because closing safe havens before a better relief way is found is nothing but refusing to rescue lives, said Zhu.
