Our Priorities

While China has achieved dramatic reductions in rates of maternal and child mortality, there are still numerous remote and marginalized communities where progress is needed. During the thousand days between conception and when a child turns two years old, health care services for mother and baby are critical. In China, access to those necessary services is unequal across regions.

In the most poorly served areas, mortality rates for mothers and babies can be as high as three times the national average. China is one of the world's top five countries in terms of the number of deaths of children younger than five years old. 

Many of these deaths could be prevented, but in remote areas medical facilities and equipment are often in short supply. Health care workers also may lack adequate training. Accordingly, some mothers are unable to receive adequate pre-natal, delivery and post-natal health care.

In addition, many mothers in China lack information about exclusive breastfeeding, and are therefore vulnerable to the infant formula industry's misleading advertising. Even though breast milk is the perfect food for babies, and infant formula is not an equivalent, breastfeeding is on the decline in China. Along with breast milk, most infants receive formula, or are given solid food, before the recommended age of six months.