Babies barcoded for security

A South African public hospital plans to tag babies electronically as one of several security measures to beat baby-snatching. If it goes ahead, Tygerberg Hospital would become the first public health facility in the Western Cape to use the tag. The device is activated if a tagged baby is removed from a specific area. The infrastructure for the plan is expected to be completed next year. In some UK hospitals, babies have a personalised electronically programmed tag attached to their ankle. This is different from the tags in use in another South African hospital, Life Kingsbury Hospital in Claremont, Cape Town, which consist of a waterproof barcode placed on the baby’s back. The device looks like a plaster. Tygerberg spokesman Regan Beukes said this tagging system had been used for years.  link