Beijing's birth defect rate doubles in a decade
Updated
The World Health Organisation says eight percent of new born deaths in China are due to birth defects, but that rate is lower than many other countries it has studied.
The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau has told the China Daily that birth defects have doubled in the past decade in Beijing, rising to 170 defects per 10,000 births last year. Health authorities in China have begun providing many Chinese women of childbearing age with free folic acid supplements to prevent birth defects in the future.
Presenter: Christine Webster
Speakers: Dr Robert Scherpbier, Medical Officer for Maternal and Child Health from the WHO, based in China
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