Maternal health services more equitable, accessible in China: white paper

BEIJING - Maternal and child health services have become more equitable and accessible in China, said a white paper issued Tuesday.

China has implemented basic public health service projects and major public health service projects on maternal and child health, said the white paper on China's gender equality and women's development.

The country has done all it can to improve the systematic management of pregnant and lying-in women, regulate service behavior, improve service quality, and make access to maternal and child health services more equal, it said.

By 2014, 90 percent of pregnant and lying-in women had access to basic public health services.

The state has implemented major projects to subsidize hospital childbirths for rural pregnant and lying-in women, benefiting 57.12 million, figures showed.

The national hospital birth rate increased from 72.9 percent in 2000 to 99.6 percent in 2014, and the same rate in the countryside grew from 65.2 percent in 2000 to 99.4 percent in 2014.

In 2009, the state launched a program of free cervical and breast cancer check-ups for rural women, providing free cervical cancer check-up for 42.87 million and free breast cancer check-up for 6.13 million, in addition to extending medical treatment to 31,077 women having financial difficulties, it added.

The state has carried out major projects on AIDS, syphilis and hepatitis B, preventing mother-to-child transmission; 60.53 million pregnant women have benefited from the examination or treatment, according to the white paper.