Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, also Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech during his talk with the new leadership of the ACWF, in October 2023. To study and implement the guiding principles of that speech, and to implement the guiding principles of the 13th National Women's Congress of China, the Human Resources Development Department and the Social Liaison, Exchanges and Cooperation Center, both under the ACWF, recently released the list of 50 projects, with characteristic features, organized by women's social organizations across the country, and the list of 10 cases, with characteristic features, of women's federations connecting with and guiding social organizations. Here is one of the projects.

Project: Carnation Women's Health Care Plan

Organizer: Zhejiang Women and Children's Foundation

Breast cancer and cervical cancer are two major threats to women's health. China's free breast- and cervical-cancer (two cancers) screening campaign has proven vital in improving Chinese women's overall health, and in reducing the incidence of the two forms of cancer. 

Under the guidance of Zhejiang Women's Federation, Zhejiang Women and Children's Foundation launched Carnation Women's Health Care Plan in 2017, to step up prevention and control efforts involving breast cancer, cervical cancer, and other common diseases that afflict women. 

The project has mobilized all segments of society to participate in social assistance. In addition, it has raised women's health awareness and provided patients with more care, through organizing health-science-popularization activities, and by offering public-welfare insurance and other assistance. 

During the past seven years, the project has raised nearly 25.81 million yuan (US $3.64 million), and it has used some of that money to purchase medical insurance for 553,800 individuals. In particular, it has provided free insurance to 139,400 in-need women. 

To date, 578 insured women have received compensation, worth 32.11 million yuan (US $4.52 million) in total. The project has also distributed 4.4 million yuan (US $620,141) to 788 in-need women. 

The project has earned wide recognition from the public, and it has received several State- and provincial-level awards, including the 2023 national innovation practice of social governance and the seventh Zhejiang provincial philanthropic awards. 

Protecting Women's Health via Public-Welfare Insurance

The foundation has used both online and offline channels, and hosted various interactive activities, to promote health education among women, to spread healthy lifestyle concepts, and to help women, especially those from low-income families, raise their awareness of the two cancers. 

In 2017, the foundation combined the public-welfare project with commercial insurance, and it rolled out the Carnation Women's Health Public-Welfare Insurance campaign, to provide women with medical insurance to cover their health. 

Each insured woman can receive up to 100,000 yuan (US $14,085), which can cover basic medical expenditures, when she is first diagnosed with breast, cervical, ovarian, fallopian tube, vaginal and/or uterine cancer. 

The payment for each insurance premium of 100 yuan (US $14.08) means donating 15 yuan (US $2.11) to a woman who is receiving the basic living allowance, or a family living in difficulty. 

In keeping with the agreements between the foundation and the insurance companies, 23 percent of the insurance fees, and the remainder of the insurance fees after deducting payouts, will be used for public-welfare causes. 

Jin Ju, from a rural family subsisting on the basic living allowance in Taizhou, is one of the insurance plan's beneficiaries. With assistance from the local women's federation, Jin received insurance in 2018. A few months later, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer, during free screening for two cancers. Within a month, she had received compensation from the insurance, and that money helped cover her treatments. 

Carnation Women's Health Care Plan has become a major channel for the public to participate in social assistance, and to help provide social services. The plan has helped ease the financial burdens of women facing difficulties due to serious diseases, it has helped enhance women's health awareness, and it has helped encourage women patients to remain optimistic. 

Bringing Warmth to More Women

To enhance the care and assistance provided to women patients, the project has established caring stations in 13 hospitals in the province. Through those caring stations, volunteers and medical personnel provide women with care and support, and women can apply for financial assistance. 

To date, the project has provided seven women with financial assistance, up to 5,000 yuan (US $704) per person. 

A woman, surnamed Zhang, was the first to benefit from one of the caring stations. She has undergone more than 30 rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to treat breast cancer. After learning about the difficult conditions of Zhang's family, the local women's federation helped Zhang apply for financial assistance, which relieved her financial burdens. 

The foundation will continue establishing caring stations, spreading love and warmth to in-need women, and helping protect women's physical and mental health.

Photos from interviewees

(Women of China English Monthly September 2024)

Editor: Wang Shasha