German pharmaceutical giant Bayer backed a maternity and infant public welfare project launched in Beijing on Sunday, in a bid to raise the public awareness of birth defects and maternal and child health.

The project has been held for three years in a row and was jointly initiated by the Population Culture Development Center of the National Health Commission and the China Health Promotion Foundation,

It takes the format of training, science popularization and publicity to mobilize and organize social forces to participate in the science popularization of maternal and child health, raise the public's attention to the prevention of birth defects, and enhance mothers' and children's health.

In the past decades, China has placed a lot of emphasis on prevention of birth defects, and launched a series of papers and publicity activities.

Mao Qun'an, director of the Department of Planning and Information at the National Health Commission, said: "The health of women and children is the cornerstone of public health, and an important pillar of achieving the strategic goals of Healthy China."

"We must focus on the health of women and children, give full play to the leading role of the government, guide society to participate widely, combine prevention and treatment, and achieve all-round services and guarantees for women and children," he said.

Han Hui, a researcher at the National Center for Women and Children's Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "Although China has made remarkable progress in birth defect prevention, the current situation is still severe."

"We must enhance comprehensive prevention ability, and strictly implement the prevention work. Starting from the source, we must do a good job in popularizing science education and health guidance for women of childbearing age," he said.

Wang Xietong, deputy chief member of the Chinese Society of Perinatal Medicine, also head of the Shandong maternal and childcare service center, said: "In the recent years, with the improvement of people's living standards, the nutritional status of Chinese pregnant women has been enhanced to a certain extent. However, the intake of various trace elements is still insufficient, and their cognition is relatively weak."

"Supplementing folic acid-containing polynutrients before and during pregnancy can effectively reduce the risk of various birth defects, such as dysplasia and neural tube defects. Therefore, strengthening health management and supplementing nutrients throughout pregnancy are key measures to prevent birth defects," he said.

Maternity and child experts from Hefei in Anhui province, Quanzhou in Fujian province, Linyi and Weifang in Shandong province, and Taiyuan in Shanxi province, together with five chain drugstore brands launched a five-city collaborative public welfare activity, to promote the project, and boost the popularization of mother and child knowledge.

Bayer has been supporting the public welfare project for three years. He Yong, general manager of Bayer Consumer Health China, said: "Giving every baby the best start is the wish of Bayer and millions of Chinese families. It is also the foundation for improving the quality of our country's birth population and the overall health of women and children."

"In the future, Bayer hopes to join the efforts from all walks of life, to promote the long-term development of women and children's health, and help improve the health of babies in China," he said.