I HAVE read many reports on the Government?s efforts to boost the birthrate.

However, no one has brought up the issue of alternative childcare arrangements for children who have fallen sick.

No matter how many new childcare centres are set up and no matter how much we receive in benefits, it will be no use when our kids are unwell.

Working parents who have no other sources of help and choose to send their children to childcare centres know that children tend to fall ill very often during the first one to two years of attending a childcare centre.

Childcare centres will not allow sick children to attend the centre ? which is the right thing to do. Who, then, will take care of the children?

Take the outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) ? this occurred as some parents had no choice other than to continue sending their ill children to the centres even when they knew their children had some symptoms of HFMD.

While some might think that the parents are being inconsiderate, they are not fully to blame as there are no alternative childcare arrangements for their kids.

HFMD is very contagious, but while the recovery period can take 10 to 14 days, victims do not need to be hospitalised. As parents, we always want to be by our children?s side when they are sick.

However, it is impossible to take such an extended period of leave to care for our children.

What if the family has three or four children who take turns falling ill as they infect each other? If one child needs 14 days to recover, four children will need 56 days.

The Government needs to find a solution to this problem. Such cases could either be admitted to hospitals or a children?s medical centre.

Parents need a safe place where they can leave their sick children, with the assurance that the kids are in good hands and being well taken care of.

Madam Yusna Murphiyana

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