Every Family should have a first aid kit in their home. But not every family’s kit should be the same, according

to the Singapore Health Promotion Board. The board has a few suggestions to get started.

* Thermometer – Either the traditional glass type or the new electronic kind is an important tool for monitoring fever.

* A small torch – This can be used to find small objects embedded in an ear or nostril, and to look at the back of the throat.

* Materials for treating small wounds – Cotton swabs, antiseptic solution, antibiotic ointment, gauze bandages and adhesive tape to secure it, and bandage scissors.

* Tweezers – For removing splinters and things lodged in the skin.

* Simple medications – Paracetamol, antacids, antihistamines for allergies and runny nose, cough medicine and diarrhea medicine.

After stocking your kit with the basics, customize it with special items your family might need. such as inhalers for asthma. Remember that first aid is simply the first application of care. Keep emergency phone numbers nearby to call in the professionals for serious problems.

SHANGHAI — China pledged to expand medical insurance and build thousands of hospitals and clinics over three years, the first steps in a 10-year plan to repair an ailing health-care system that has fueled popular discontent.

On Tuesday, the State Council, China’s cabinet, offered details on the $120-billion-plus initial phase of the revamp, which it outlined in January. Among the plans: a construction surge that by 2011 will give every village a medical clinic and every county at least one hospital.

The government and ruling Communist Party are trumpeting the blueprint with a major public-relations push, signaling the political importance of rebuilding a social safety net that was largely dismantled during the country’s shift to a market economy over the past 30 years.