China releases action plan to improve child health

BEIJING — The National Health Commission (NHC) on Nov 5 published a new action plan for child health improvement from 2021 to 2025, highlighting declining mortality rates among children under five.

According to the action plan, the mortality rates of newborn babies, infants, and children under five will be kept below 3.1, 5.2, and 6.6 per thousand, respectively, by 2025.

Over the next five years, more than half of infants under six months will be exclusively breastfed. The growth retardation rate among children under five will also be within 5 percent, said the action plan.

The plan targets seven key areas. These include newborn safety, birth defects prevention, healthcare, and early childhood development services.

Eye and vision care and examination services for children under six will cover over 90 percent of the age group, it said. It underlined early detection and treatment of child health risks such as anemia, obesity, autism, and hearing impairment.

Since the NHC launched a child health action plan for 2018-2020, the mortality rates of infants and children under five dropped by 20.6 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively, from 2017 to 2020.