China has drawn up a national plan for improving primary health
care in rural areas, aiming to make services accessible to all
rural residents who make up about 80 percent of its population.
By
the year 2010, the mortality of pregnant women and women in
childbirth should be 25 percent lower than 2000 levels, and the
death rate of infants should drop by 20 percent as a result of
improved maternal and child health care, says the 2001-2010 Outline
for the Development of Primary Health Care in Rural Areas of
China.
Mortality for pregnant women and women in childbirth in China's
rural areas in 2000 was close to 70 in every 100,000, and the
infant death rate was about 32 per thousand, according to the
Ministry of Health (MOH).
The rates were higher than either national averages or those in
cities, where better medical and health care services were
provided, acknowledged MOH officials.
The goal of promoting primary health care in rural areas was to
give basic medical services to every resident, MOH official Zhang
Chaoyang said, adding that it "means a fair society."
Zhang noted that the work was also vital for the global fulfillment
of a health-for-all goal set by the World Health Organization
(WHO).
In
order to dramatically improve the health of pregnant women and
children, the percentage of pregnant women who receive regular
health checks and give birth at hospitals should be increased, and
child nutrition levels should be improved, say the outline, which
was published in Beijing on Monday.
Governments at all levels will be held responsible for implementing
the program.
In
the coming years, departments of development planning, finance,
public health, agriculture and environmental protection will work
jointly to control infectious and endemic diseases, vermin and
occupational illnesses, so as to help further improve village
clinics, and to increase the use of clean drinking water and
toilets which meet certain sanitary standards.
(Xinhua News
Agency June 10, 2002)