Kids need medical insurance

The first safe haven for abandoned children in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, received 33 infants, who are either ill or disabled, within 10 days of its launch. Accordingly a senior charity worker has been quoted as saying that ill or disabled infants account for a very high percentage of the abandoned children.

Since serious illness is the leading reason for children to be abandoned, the State should expedite the introduction of critical illness insurance for children, says a commentary in Beijing News.

Of course, abandoning children with critical illnesses or disabilities is both immoral and illegal and parents should be pulled up for doing so. But the fact is, no parent will give up his/her child unless he/she is compelled by circumstances to do so. Many, if not most, of the parents just cannot afford their medical treatment.