China's Achievements in Improving Women's Health

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), held in 2012, the CPC Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, has made meeting people's aspirations for a better life as one of its goals. To achieve this goal, the Chinese Government implemented the Healthy China initiative, and it has improved the healthcare service system for women. Several basic and major women-oriented, public-health programs have been implemented. As a result, China has made huge strides in the improvement of women's health.

According to the seventh national census (conducted in 2020), the average life expectancy of Chinese women has reached 80.88 years. In 2022, the country's maternal mortality rate dropped to 15.7 per 100,000, and the infant mortality rate dropped to 4.9 per 1,000.

By the end of 2022, China had 3,031 maternal- and child-healthcare institutions, with a combined 561,000 professional workers and more than 270,000 beds. By May 2022, China had 793 maternity hospitals, and 373,000 gynecologists.

In 2022, the proportion of women who had received pain-relief services during labor in pilot general hospitals exceeded 40 percent, and the proportion of women who had received pain-relief services during labor in maternal- and child-healthcare institutions exceeded 85 percent.

In 2009, China launched a national program, under which it provided free breast and cervical cancer checkups. To date, the program has been implemented in more than 2,600 counties, districts and county-level cities across the country, and it has provided cervical and breast cancer checkups to 180 million and 100 million women, respectively.

In addition, China has made notable progress in building facilities that provide convenience for mothers to take care of their babies in public venues. Statistics indicate more than 286,000 labor unions, representing grassroots institutions and enterprises, have set up individual rooms for mothers to feed their babies. In 2022, there were 75,700 childcare facilities across the country, and those facilities' nursery capacity was 3.624 million. Nursery capacity per 1,000 people was 2.57.

The remarkable improvements in Chinese women's health, and women's access to a health friendly environment, have contributed to women's enhanced sense of happiness.

(Source: Women Voice / Translated by Women of China)