China Urged to Create Healthy Environment for Children

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 07, 2003

China Urged to Create Healthy Environment for Children

About one half of the deaths of Chinese children result from unintentional accidents such as suffocation, and most Chinese children are exposed to smoke because their fathers smoke at home.

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About one half of the deaths of Chinese children result from unintentional accidents such as suffocation, and most Chinese children are exposed to smoke because their fathers smoke at home.

China's public health authorities are now urging adults to take measures to prevent these unnecessary deaths and health hazards through the creation of a cleaner and safer environment for some 300 million children across the country.

Wang Longde, vice health minister, said on Monday that the health conditions of Chinese children show enormous disparities between cities and villages and between rich and poor areas, although general conditions have greatly improved.

Unsafe drinking water and food, environmental pollution, passive smoke, accidents and HIV/AIDS are the major health hazards for today's Chinese children, Wang said at a meeting to commemorate World Health Day, which falls on Monday.

Deaths caused by suffocation, drowning, traffic accidents, falls and poisoning account for about half of the total deaths of Chinese children, according to research by the Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Lack of safety awareness, both among children and their parents and other caretakers, is the leading cause, said Duan Leilei, a member of the research team.

It is estimated that most Chinese children are exposed to smoke, given that two-thirds of male adults in China are smokers, according to a Beijing-based research center, which also warns of a series of consequences to children, such as cancer, respiratory illnesses, asthma and degradation of lung function.

Wang said health care facilities in urban communities and rural villages and towns should be improved to provide children with emergency services.

China should work hard to give more rural people access to clean drinking water and sanitary toilets, and the rate of safe waste disposal should be raised in rural areas, he said.

Although the rate of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV, the AIDS virus, remains low in China at present, the health official said curbing the rate is crucial since more than 1 million Chinese have become infected.

On the occasion of this year's World Health Day, the World Health Organization urged the entire world to pay attention to the link between the environment and children's health, calling on Chinese residents to "create healthy environments for children."

The UN organization listed unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, indoor air pollution, vector-borne diseases, chemical hazards and unintentional injuries as major environmental risks to children.

More than 5 million children around the world die every year from diseases linked to the environments in which they live, learn and play.

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