A total of 860 million rural residents in China have been benefited from the improved drinking water supply, which has greatly reduced occurrences of fluorine and arsenic poisoning.

This was disclosed by Qi Xiaoqiu, head of the Disease Prevention and Control Department with the Ministry of Health, at a symposium on public health system construction held recently in this capital city of China's southernmost island province of Hainan.

By 2004, Qi said, tap water was available for about 60 percent of rural households in the country, and approximately 130 million or 53.1 percent of rural households have access to sanitary washrooms.

However, there are still some 300 million people in both urban and rural areas who do not have access to reliable, safe drinking water, Qi added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2005)