Liang Xiaofeng, vice president of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association said that national maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rate, and mortality rate of children under five have all reached record lows at the conference held from Friday to Saturday. In 2023, the infant mortality rate dropped below 4.5 per 1,000 births for the first time, reaching levels comparable to advanced middle- and high-income countries.
Conference participants emphasized the importance of maternal and child health as a foundation for national health. Decades of effort have significantly enhanced China's maternal and child healthcare standards, with ongoing improvements noted.
China currently operates 3,082 maternity and childcare institutions, 158 children's hospitals, 3,364 centers for maternal rescue, and 3,070 centers for critically ill newborns. The national hospital birth rate has reached 99.9 percent, while cervical and breast cancer screenings now cover over 90 percent of the population.
Since the National Health Commission's nutrition improvement program began in 2012, anemia and growth retardation rates among infants aged six to 24 months in less developed areas have decreased by 71.7 percent and 74.3 percent, respectively. Pre-pregnancy health check-ups and folic acid supplementation have been included in the national basic public service standards.
Despite these achievements, Liang acknowledged ongoing challenges in maternal and child health. He noted that women and children's health demands are becoming more diverse and specialized, requiring innovative thinking, models, and technologies to build a high-quality maternal and child health service system that aligns with China's modernization goals.
