Beijing lines up 57 community projects

Children in Beijing aged 6 and under could be entitled to free annual health checks from next year, the municipal government said yesterday.

The new service is one of 57 community projects that are planned but not yet approved, it said.

Ma Yanming, a publicity official with the city's health bureau, said clinics will also provide free screening of newborn babies for congenital diseases, and free checkups for the 210,000 women from rural areas who are registered as using long-term forms of contraception, such as the pill.