Project launched to reduce maternal mortality in Tibet

A special project was launched Wednesday to enhance reproductive public health services in Tibet, so as to reduce the region's maternal and child mortality rate.

In Tibet, the death rate of women in childbirth dropped to 174.78 per 100,000, or nearly six times of the national level in 2010, which stood at 30 out of 100,000, according to a white paper in 2011.

It also revealed that the infant mortality rate stood at 20.69 per thousand in Tibet while the national level was 13.1 per thousand.

The two-year project, promoted by several national public agencies and charity foundations, is expected to cover 1.5 million people in 21 counties in Tibet and three neighboring provinces, said a statement issued after the launching ceremony.

The team will deliver health care packages for infants, educational leaflets and handouts to families in need, and provide related training for medical personnel at the grassroots level, said the statement.

Though the medical care system has improved dramatically in Tibet over the past 60 years, reproductive services remain "severely insufficient," it noted.