Beijing yesterday began offering free vaccination services to migrant workers and their children studying in the capital city.

Migrant farmer workers were offered free vaccines for meningitis and measles, reported the Beijing Evening News.

The service is available to migrants who have not received a meningitis shot in the past three years or measles shot in the past five years, the report said.

There are requirements, however.

A migrant worker must be under 40 years old. Besides the age requirement, each has to have arrived in the city since last July and also work in a company where a large number of migrants work, the newspaper said. Medical workers will offer the vaccination at these companies.

About 400,000 migrant farmers are expected to benefit, according to the report.

Also yesterday, Beijing's health authorities started an inspection of about 170,000 preschool children from migrant families.

According to the report, medical workers will give free vaccines in the next few months to migrant children who have not been inoculated for six contagious illnesses including meningitis, measles and hepatitis B.

(Shanghai Daily March 21, 2006)