The mortality rate of pregnant women has been lowered by 28.79 percent in 378 poverty-stricken counties since 1990, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

The mortality rate began to drop after the government adopted a project with an investment of 230 million yuan (US$27.8 million) in 2000 to build or improve obstetrics departments in village and township hospitals.

Some 150 million women and children in 440 counties in 17 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have benefited from the project jointly carried out by the Ministry of Public Health, the Women and Children Work Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Finance.

In northwest China's Gansu Province, the mortality dropped by 72 percent from 1990 after the project started.

The first phase of the project ended last year and in the new phase from 2004 to 2005 China aims to reduce the mortality of pregnant women by 25 percent over the rate of 2001, Jiang Zuojun, vice minister of public health, told Xinhua Friday.

With the project, the government expected to see at least half of pregnant women give birth to their children in hospital by 2005, Jiang said.

In some remote Chinese villages, women give birth to their children at home assisted by uncertified local midwives or even their mothers-in-law since they can not to go to hospital or because they are too far away from a hospital with obstetrics service. Many have died from minor mistakes during childbirth.

Difficulties and problems lie ahead such as lack of money to build and run the hospitals though the project has made marked achievements, Jiang said, adding that the administrations are addressing the problems.

The project is also working to reduce the incidence of tetanus among infants, which dropped by 55 percent from 1990 to less than 0.1 percent now in 378 counties.

(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2004)