Personal look over the wreckage at the Once station in Buenos Aires. (Photo: Beatrice Murch)
Once Train Crash – Brakes in Working Order: An expert’s report on 2012′s Once train crash determined that the brakes on the train were in working order at the time of the accident. The report was carried out as per the court’s request, by three experts appointed by the court and four appointed by the train driver Marcos Córdoba, the National Commission for Transport Regulation (CNRT), the Transport Secretariat, and former operator of the Sarmiento train line TBA. “The inspected hoses were in good working order,” indicated the report. The tragedy, which occurred on 22nd February 2012, left 51 people dead and dozens injured when the train known as ‘Chapa 16′ failed to brake as it entered the Once terminal station.
Lawmaker Proposes Ban on Plastic Surgery: Deputy Mara Brawer, from the governing Frente Para la Victoria (FPV) will introduce a bill in Congress on Thursday seeking to ban plastic surgery on people under the age of 18. Brawer clarified that the bill would still allow for this kind of surgery to be performed in minors if they are of the “reconstructive, sex change, and therapeutic kind. That is, if a child suffers from violence and discrimination because they’ve got a big nose and that makes their daily life difficult, then this kind of surgery would be allowed.” The deputy indicated that the reason behind the bill is to “preserve [the children's] mental and physical health,” affected by “cultural patterns” which dictate an ideal body image. In that sense, she considers that it is necessary “to limit the demands of the market” which tend to “homogenise the bodies.”
Infant Mortality Hits Record Low: Infant mortality in the province of Buenos Aires hit a record low of 10.9 per 1,000 live births in 2013. The 2013 rate means a 6% decrease in infant mortality compared to the previous year, when it was 11.5, and follows a trend which has seen this rate drop for four consecutive years. In 2009, the infant mortality rate (IMR) in Buenos Aires was of 12.4, in 2010 of 12, and in 2011 of 11.7. “This is a long term decrease which makes us want to keep moving forward with the policies that permitted this trend, in an indicator that is key to measuring the population’s health,” said provincial Health Minister Alejandro Collia. The aim for 2015, according to the authorities, is to reach an IMR of one digit.