About 185 million people in China are aged above 60 years, and quite a few of them are single-child parents who have lost their children. Such people require special care, as the sorrow of losing their only child could impair their physical and mental health, and make their remaining life miserable.

The number of single-child families that have lost their children is estimated at nearly 1 million, and it is increasing by about 75,000 a year. The capital alone has 3,900 such families with 7,746 parents, the Beijing family planning commission said.

Their condition is totally different from couples that have never had a child. They have poured all their love and attention (and money) on their only child. Therefore, a deep sense of hollowness will keep haunting them for the rest of their lives.

Had they not followed the call of the government's family planning policy, their trauma would not have been so severe because they would have other children to share their grief and provide the care they need.

It does not mean the family planning policy is to blame for that. But it emphasizes the responsibility of the government to fulfill the needs of such families, who have helped prevent about 400 million births from the late 1970s to the present.

The Law on Population and Family Planning that took effect in 2001 says only vaguely that local governments should help single-child families who have lost their children. Such parents who are Beijing residents can now get 200 yuan ($31.4) a month in subsidy from the municipal government, and the amount varies from locality to locality. But they need more help, both physical and psychological, to ease their sufferings.

A senior official of the National Population and Family Planning Commission said it would be irresponsible of the government not to work out a solution to the problem.

True, a special department is needed to deal with the specific needs of such families and money is required to solve many of the problems they face.

The government has to fulfill its responsibility of ensuring the well-being of senior citizens who adhered to the government's family planning policy and are now suffering.