Translated from Xinhua:
In Sichuan about 7,400 people injured in the quake still need physical therapy, officials said.
So far, 158 amputees received artificial limbs. 341 people are now equipped with assistive devices, officials said. The health department said they plan to set up rehabilitation centers for the injured, but full details have not been unveiled.
Three provincial centers with a total of 300 beds were founded in Chengdu to treat the most seriously injured. Six quake-hit cities have sub-centres and 44 counties have therapy branches for patients. In addition, about 100 rehabilitation experts from all over China are now working in Sichuan. Money has also been spent to help quake victims restart their lives in other ways. For example, in June, The Sichuan Disabled Persons’ Foundation pledged 2 million yuan (293,000 U.S. dollars) annually for three years to help the disabled start their own businesses. The government also announced, in May, that employers would get tax cuts or subsidies if they hired disabled quake victims.
Only 12 of Sichuan’s 623 quake orphans have so far been been legally adopted, state media reported.
According to the Sichuan Department of Civil Affairs, 90 percent of the 600 plus orphans were taken into care by their relatives while the other 60 remain in welfare homes, Xinhua said.
Officials said 623 children became orphans in the quake, but only 12 of them have since been adopted. Other orphans are being fostered by relatives or welfare houses. About 98% of them have been fostered by relatives and 2% of them are living in welfare house.
Relatives have priority in adopting quake orphans according to government regulations, said Zhang Li, deputy director of the department. The adoption process began in late August. In May, it was reported there were about 4,000 orphans, but most were identified by their parents or relatives and taken home, officials said.
“The number is changing all the time as some are taken away and some return from other provinces after free medical care,” Zhang said. “Very few are adopted by strangers.”
