NHFPC'S Press Conference on May 29

(en.nhfpc.gov.cn)

Updated: 2014-07-21

Eighth, prevent and control birth defects. We will launch a few major programs to curb birth defects and make sure every infant is healthy.

Ninth, enhance services supervision. We will strictly control the cesarean section rate, while encouraging breast-feeding.

Tenth, set up a warning mechanism in a bid to better deal with emergencies.

We’re glad to see that quite a few cities have been stepping up efforts to improve healthcare services for women and children. But in the meantime, we hope parents who are planning to have a second child should be fully prepared in order to make sure your baby will be healthy.

Q: Will China consider setting up breast-feeding or nursing rooms in public places or companies?

A: Breast-feeding rate in China is relatively low, which we hope will improve in the future. There are reasons for that, including a lack of public awareness of its benefits and of appropriate facilities for breast-feeding in the workplace.

We attached great importance to this problem, and hope each public place and company will establish a nursing room for female employees to breast-feed. Breast-feeding is very good for the health of children and mothers, and we should be well aware of that. Our target is that half of mothers in China will choose to breast-feed by 2020.

So far, a total of 534 nursing rooms have been set up in 64 cities around the country, among which 115 are in the workplace and the rest in public places. That is far from enough given the huge number of newborns every year. But we hope more organizations will follow.

Q: Beijing is said to have initiated cutting special healthcare services in public hospitals. What’s your comment on that?

A: There are reasons for public medical institutions to provide special healthcare services, which has been overseen by the Chinese government. But with the nation’s healthcare development, we now hope these special services will instead be provided by private institutions. That’s why we need to cut or even stop such services in public hospitals, which are expected to focus more on meeting basic medical demand. It will be our next step in medical reforms. We are expecting a more coordinated and multi-layered healthcare system to meet different demands.

Q: China has launched a few major programs in recent years to prevent and control birth defects. What’s the update on those programs? Are there any difficulties or challenges?

A: Children are the hope of a nation and the future of a family. In China, birth defect rates are relatively high, which has been a big concern of the government and the whole society. China embarked on four major special programs in the past few years in an effort to reduce birth defects, while launching nationwide education on related knowledge in the meantime.

In 2009, we began distributing to rural women free folic acid pills with a financial support of 160 million yuan every year. To date, 45 million people have benefited from the program. This has helped prevent serious cases in newborns called neural tube defects.

In 2010, we initiated a program that provided free pre-pregnancy check-ups for rural parents planning to have a child with a financial support of 800 million yuan every year. More than 22 million have participated in the examinations, and 12.8 percent of them were found to be high-risk cases - each later got targeted medical treatment and consultations.

In 2012, we started to examine newborns in 200 poor counties to see whether they have hearing disorders, congenital hypothyroidism, or phenylketonuria, with a budget of 58 million yuan every year. About 790,000 infants have received the free examinations.

Also in the same year, we launched a program to prevent and control thalassemia in seven provinces with high occurrences of the disease, including Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan, pouring 30 million yuan each year. More than 150,000 couples have enjoyed the free services, leading to a big drop in thalassemia cases.