URUMQI -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will train 1,500 medical workers in the next five years to provide better medical treatment for residents and herdsmen in poverty-hit areas, the regional health authority said on June 28.

According to the regional health and family planning commission, 300 people will be trained each year, with the regional government covering their tuition and accommodation fees.

Two thirds of the medical workers will be allocated to impoverished counties and villages in Kashgar, Hotan, Kizilsu and Aksu prefectures, after a three-year learning course and a two-year internship, the commission said.

Most of the poverty-stricken counties are located in southern Xinjiang, where a poor living environment, insufficient infrastructure and a lack of public services have resulted in considerable poverty.