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shenzhen will build three new children's hospitals by 2020 to offer an additional 2,000 beds to meet the city's growing demand for medical resources for newborns following the implementation of the two-child policy, the shenzhen evening news reported yesterday.
a public meeting attended by political advisers and residents was held at the book city cbd store in futian on sunday to discuss public issues.
a political adviser, xiao minjing, said that there were only 3,700 beds in pediatrics departments in hospitals citywide as of the end of 2015. now that the two-child policy has been put into practice, there should be 7,000 beds to meet the demand of newborns. "i had failed to make an appointment for my child to see a doctor even though i went to the hospital at 6 a.m.," xiao said.
the city's health and family planning commission's spokesperson said that shenzhen would build a public children's hospital in longhua new area by 2020 that offers 1,500 beds. the other two new children's hospitals will be located in bao'an and longgang districts, and each will have 500 beds available.
the spokesperson said that the city's maternity and child health-care hospital and its branch in pingshan new area would be expanded. there would be around 7,000 beds in pediatrics departments in hospitals citywide by 2020.
the city government is urging hospitals to create incentives to attract pediatricians and to raise their salaries. the shenzhen children's hospital has partnered with chongqing medical university to recruit 30 to 50 pediatricians from the university each year, according to the spokesperson.
the number of pregnant women registered with hospitals in shenzhen was 201,792 in the first half of this year, higher than the number in the same periods from 2012 to 2015. there were 98,186 women giving birth to babies in the city in the first half of this year, according to xiao.
"the death rate of pregnant women in shenzhen was relatively low over the past five years, and the infant mortality rate was lower than the national average," said another political adviser, chen zuhong.
an audience member at the meeting said that it had been difficult for school-aged children to enroll in quality public schools in recent years, and that the two-child policy could make it even harder.
“the enrollment limit for primary schools is estimated to be 52,000 less than demand in 2017 and the limit for middle schools will be insufficient by 20,000,” said hong fei, a political adviser in the education sector.
the city built or expanded 30 middle and primary schools each year over the past few years, increasing enrollment in public schools by over 40,000 per year. there have been around 70 new kindergartens built in shenzhen each year, and the government has offered an annual subsidy ranging from 60,000 yuan (us$8,955) to 140,000 yuan to each kindergarten, according to the report.
another political adviser, lu weiping, said that the government should consider the shortage of land resources when building new schools in shenzhen. "many senior high schools in yantian district are built on mountains," he said.
the city's land and resources commission's spokesperson said that the government would plan the allocation of schools based on the population in different areas. by the end of july, over 1,600 kindergartens, 500 primary schools and 100 middle schools were included in the government's allocation plan.