China will start a nationwide campaign to spread scientific
knowledge on how to give birth to a healthy baby, said an official
of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF).
The campaign, dubbed "Seed Project" and sponsored by the ACWF, the
State Commission for Population and Family Planning and Roche
(Shanghai) Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., aims at providing young
couples with information to ensure the health of both the mother
and baby.
The project is divided into three phases and the first one has
already started in eight major cities such as Beijing, Tianjin and
Shanghai.
According to the plan, some 600,000 pregnant women and those who
plan to have a child will have a chance to receive free brochures
and consultation services, listen to lectures and exchange ideas
with each other at regularly-staged seminars.
The ACWF official said that upgrading the living and health
condition of women and children is an important task of the
government, which issued an improved compendium on the development
of Chinese women and children in 2001.
Alan Main, general manager of Roche Consumer Health, said his
organization is happy to offer medical assistance to ensure the
health of mothers and babies and has already introduced vitamins
capable of greatly reducing the possibilities of congenital
diseases, he added.
(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2003)