BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- China will significantly increase medical resources for children in the next five years, the head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission said on Tuesday.
Medical educational institutions will enroll additional 30,000 students majoring in pediatrics by 2020, when a city with a permanent population of more than three million will have a dedicated children's hospital, Li Bin said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.
The boost is badly needed. As a result of China's recent adoption of a policy allowing all married couples to have two children, demand for pediatricians is expected to surge.
"We need to expand service supply on the one hand and strengthen disease prevention on the other," said Li.
Of the 25,860 hospitals nationwide at the end of 2014, only 99 were dedicated to children. The number of pediatricians across the country made up just 3.9 percent of all certified doctors. The number of beds for children in all the hospitals accounted for 5.6 percent of the total.
China's sixth national census in 2010 showed the country had 220 million children under the age of 14. The two-child policy is expected to bring a surge of births among the generation born after 1985, causing heavier pressure on children's health services.
Late last year, China abolished its one-child policy which had been implemented since the late 1970s.
The two-child policy, which took effect on Jan. 1, is expected to see 3 million more children born in China every year.