China proposes action plan to focus on disability prevention

China is planning to strengthen disability prevention efforts by promoting premarital healthcare and healthy lifestyles, while also improving disabled people’s development prospects. The State Council, China’s Cabinet, has recently released an action plan focusing on disability prevention, which aims to better control causes of disability, such as genetic inheritance or disease, by 2025. It also aims to improve rehabilitation services for the disabled. According to the action plan, China will promote premarital and pre-conception healthcare to reduce physical problems among newborns. For example, the National Health Commission will streamline checkup procedures and make healthy pregnancy and birth information more accessible to couples. The commission will also improve basic medical services for pregnant women and enhance prenatal screening to help detect some severe birth defects such as chromosomal disorders and malformation. The action plan also emphasised that older women who are pregnant should be given priority for prenatal checkups, calling for the setting up of a specialised management system for such women.