Abandonments or At Home in the Hospital

Jurnalul National Wed, Dec. 28, 2005.

Abandonments or At Home in the Hospital

According to the UNICEF report, there are over 4,000 newborns abandoned in Romania every year. There are another 5,000 children abandoned in Pediatric Hospitals. In 2005, theoretically, the orphanages were disbanded (closed). Consequently, abandoned children have shown up in the hospitals in sections called "pediatric recuperation". These large rooms, in which the children stay for many months and even years, expose them to many infections, but more especially psychological alienation.

The removal of the abandonment clause in the current legislation and the absence of exact time limits in the new legislation impedes (hinders) the process of adoption for these children. And although there are Romanian families who are willing to adopt, they cannot do so because the legal situation of these children is unclear, and thus they are not allowed to leave the hospital. Thus, the Romanian state tramples on the fundamental right of these children to grow up in a permanent family.

Children who are born with malformations are condemned to the hospital and ultimately to death. They belong to no one and thus their fight for life is in vain, even from their birth. They are not allowed to leave the hospital until they depart on their last journey.....to the cemetery of the poor. It is inhuman that approximately 10,000 are abandoned every year in hospitals in Romania. We wrote about this in May of 2005. The Prime Minister, Tarinceanu, wrote us a letter in which he recognized that "the situation is truly dramatic and we are trying to find solutions for this problem".

On the 10th of June, 2005, the Romanian government decided to increase the food allocation for children in the hospitals from .90 (90 cents) to $1.12 per day for children under 1 month of age; from $1.08 to $2.09 per day for children between the age of 1 month and one year; and from $1.09 to $1.47 per day for children between the age of 1 and 3 years old. They also spoke of implementing a rooming-in program beginning in September of 2005.

On the 4th of July, we reported on the high number of children diagnosed as retarded due to lengthy stays in the hospital. From that day on, the authorities have not given any response. On the 3rd of November, there was an emergency ordinance passed by the government that beginning on Jan. 1, 2006, the social assistance for raising a child will be $250 (a month). However, the problem of children abandoned in hospitals in Romania has not been resolved in any case.