Ensuring Women's Equal Access to Healthcare

During the past 20 years, the Chinese government has made women's health a priority as it has promoted gender equality and women's development. [Women of China]

During the past 20 years, the Chinese government has made women's health a priority as it has promoted gender equality and women's development. For example, the government has implemented various laws, including the Law of the People's Republic of China on Maternal and Infant Health Care, the Population and Family Planning Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women. In its national programs for women's development, the government has listed women's health as one of its objectives.

Three Steps

On March 1, 2008, China's then-ministry of Health, the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) hosted a seminar on Chinese women's health in Beijing.

Liu Qian, then-vice-minister of Health, said there would be three steps taken during implementation of the Action for Chinese Women's Health. First, Liu said, the service system would be improved by 2010, to provide rural and urban women with basic healthcare services; second, the functions and service capacity of the maternal and infant health service system would be improved by 2015, so all pregnant women would give birth in hospitals, the maternal and infant mortality rates would decrease significantly, and China would be one of the top developing countries in terms of the level of women's level of health; and third, urban and rural women would enjoy basic medical and health services by 2020, and the level of women's health in eastern China and some parts of central and western China would be close to or equal to that in moderately developed countries. Since Liu made those comments, the Chinese government and related organizations have made continuous efforts to complete the three steps and realize the goals.

In 2013, to evaluate the implementation of the National Program for the Development of Chinese Women (2011-2020), the officials of the National Bureau of Statistics of China conducted a survey. Regarding women's health, the survey's results indicated the following:

●The level of maternal care continued to improve. In 2013, some 99.5 percent of women gave birth in a hospital; the maternal mortality rate declined, from 30/100,000 in 2010, to 23.2/100,000.

●The level of women's reproductive health improved; the rate of screening women for common diseases reached 68.7 percent in 2013; the rate of incidence of disease among women was 27.4 percent; more women had received free gynecological examinations and screening for cervical and/or breast cancer ("two cancers"), and the screening range was expanded from women in rural areas to all women aged 35 to 64;

●Women's right to family planning was basically guaranteed. In 2013, the use of contraceptives by women of childbearing age was 87.3 percent, 1.8 percentage points lower than in 2010. In addition, more men were willing to accept responsibility for contraception; and

●There was a significant increase in the number of women who participated in physical exercise.

Statistics issued in 2013 indicated the proportion of women who often participated in physical exercise was 18.9 percent, up 11.4 percentage points compared with 2007.

Song Xiuyan, Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, noted that some common and frequently occurring diseases that affect women's health had been effectively prevented and controlled. She also explained that women's average life expectancy had reached 77.37 years, that women's social security had been improved, that the percentage of women covered by basic pension and medical insurance finally equaled the percentage of men, and that more than 95 percent of pregnant and lying-in women had maternity insurance.

From 2009-2013, a total of 47.28 million pregnant women in rural areas benefited from a special scheme for subsidized hospital deliveries, pushing up rural hospital delivery rates to 99.2 percent, a powerful guarantee for maternal and child safety.

Maternal and child health services at all levels have been better-established. As of 2012, there were 3,044 maternal and child health agencies, 495 maternity hospitals and 89 children's hospitals across China.

Preventing 'Two Cancers'

The "two cancers" have become major threats to women's health in recent years, and the rate of incidence has continued to rise. In 2009, the ACWF and the then-ministry of Health launched the program to provide free screening for the "two cancers" to rural women. The checkup program has been included in the new plan for national medical reform and key national public health service programs. As of the end of 2013, a total of 32.38 million and 4.77 million rural women received free checks for cervical cancer and breast cancer, respectively.

To help poverty-stricken rural women who suffered from one or both of the "two cancers," the ACWF in 2011 established a special fund to pay for the women's treatments. Each year, China's Ministry of Finance allocates 50 million yuan (US $8 million) to the fund.

Caring for Disadvantaged Mothers

In remote and poverty-stricken areas of China, the health conditions of rural women lag behind the conditions in China's coastal areas. That is due to poor transportation and the lack of medical equipment.

To deal with this issue, and with the support of the ACWF and the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, the China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) launched a charity health program, the Health Express for Mothers, in July 2003. As of December 2013, the project has provided 2,023 vehicles and vehicle-mounted medical equipment and benefited 30 million women.

Challenges Ahead

The national laws, regulations and policies have provided a system for the protection of women's health. Budgetary investment in this regard has been doubled to make the institutional setting more complete. Both governmental and non-governmental organizations have tried to solve the key problems affecting women's health and improve the quality of services. This has been done by launching some key programs. As a result, Chinese women's health has greatly improved. On the other hand, China is still challenged by an incomplete fundraising system, lags in service capacity building, shortcomings in the fairness and inclusiveness of health insurance, and further potential infliction of some diseases on women's physical and mental health.

Data Speaks

* More than 95 percent of pregnant and lying-in women in China had maternity insurance

* In 2013, some 99.5 percent of Chinese women gave birth in a hospital

* The maternal mortality rate in China declined, from 30/100,000 in 2010, to 23.2/100,000

*As of 2012, there were 3,044 maternal and child health agencies, 495 maternity hospitals and 89 children's hospitals across China.

(Women of China)