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China Bids Adieu To Its One-Child Policy

child

For 35 years, China had been a staunch advocate and ruthless enforcer of one of the world’s most controversial family-planning policies of all time. The One-Child Policy was the crown jewel of China’s communist government. But now, the Chinese Government has decided to revise its policy. They have changed it to a Two-Child Policy, effective from 1st January 2016. This change in policy has left many hailing it as the “end of an era”.

A Bit Of History
China saw an enormous surge in population during the ‘70s. This massive increase had the potential to deplete the natural resources of China. Imagine a country, through which great rivers constantly flow, facing a severe water crisis in the future, caused not by drought, but by a flood of people! The Chinese Government sought to change this bleak future, and thus the Family Planning Policy was officially adopted in 1979. The plan restricted families from having more than one child. Provincial governments imposed fines for violations by collecting a penalty in the form of the “social child-raising fee” from both parents.

Why The Change?
Well, for starters, there’s the social impact. Parents traditionally preferred boys to girls, so the sex-ratio ended up getting skewed. As there was only one child, many Chinese families over-indulged and spoilt them. Also, the burden of looking after the elderly parents and even grandparents fell up the shoulders of these single children. Then, natural calamities, like the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and other disasters robbed many families living in those areas of their sole heirs.

The One-Child Policy has left a mark even in the Chinese economy. Today, China faces a shortage of a young workforce as well as young consumers. The older generation vastly outnumbers the younger one. This has brought about a drastic change in the economy resulting in the formulation of radical economic policies, such as this one.

Thought the two-child norm will not bring about immediate changes, it will definitely have a positive impact in the long-run.

A Biocontainment Unit For Kids- Only At Texas Children’s Hospital

hospital

For ordinary people, just hearing the terms like Ebola epidemic and fevers like Avian or Swine could cause a severe heart attack, for the images associated with these dreadful and contagious viral diseases, especially of a deadly contagious Ebola infected corpse, show the full horrors of an excruciatingly painful death.

There are many people around the world, especially in the African continent, who have had the misfortune to be the victims of such diseases. Some are the victims of a recent threat called bioterrorism, where these pathogens are weaponized. Whether they survive or not depends on the availability of state-of-the-art healthcare institutions that are equipped to tackle highly infectious diseases caused by any pathogen, be it a virus, bacteria or toxins. Such hospitals will require special areas called Quarantine Wings. But, today, mere quarantine is not enough as it only prevents the spread and does not facilitate diagnosis of the different strains of pathogens.

A Biocontainment Unit effectively addresses this need. It’s a special unit located in a separate area of a hospital designated as the treatment wing for highly infectious diseases. It’s still essentially a quarantined area, but it contains state-of-the-art facilities and equipment specially designed to diagnose and treat these life-threatening diseases.

The Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston has pioneered a new type of Biocontainment Unit, specially made for kids who have fallen prey to these deadly diseases. The facility contains eight beds, each having an antechamber, where doctors and nurses will put on protective gear like Bio-suits, gloves and ventilated hoods. After treating the child, they can strip the equipment off in another room. There are large glass windows through which these children can be observed by the doctors and nurses.The infected blood samples are safely tested in the unit’s own laboratory so that it never has to be carried to the other parts of the hospital.