(XINHUA is the official press agency of the People's Republic of China)

LHASA (Nov. 15) XINHUA - The survival rates of expectant mothers, newly born babies and young infants in Tibet have dramatically improved.

It follows a massive campaign to improve training of midwives and the use of sterile equipment during childbirth.

Local health officials have reported new figures which show that the mortality rates of expectant mothers and children under the age of five have dropped significantly since 1989, when the scheme was launched.

Deaths of expectant mothers dropped to 326.4 per 100,000 in 1994, from the 1989 level of 715.58 per 100,000 people; death rates of infants declined from 91.8 per thousand to 50.73 per thousand in the same period.

Mortality of children under five also decreased from 126.72 per thousand to 50.54 per thousand in the 1989-1994 period, said the report released by the Public Health Department of Tibetan Autonomous Region.

"Thanks to a health-promotion project jointly launched by the Tibetan government and Unicef, the health conditions of Tibetan women and children have been greatly improved," the report said.

Implementation of safe delivery methods, in which well-trained midwives use sterilized devices in the course of child delivery, was the main reason for the substantial drop, the report said.

The improved method was applied to about 46 expectant mothers among every 100 in 1994, while the rate was only about 11 among every 100 in 1989.

According to a report released by China's Ministry of Public Health in August, China's maternal mortality was 62 per 100,000 people last year. Mortality of children under five dropped to 45 per thousand in 1995.

The 1990-1995 project covered 16 poor counties in Tibet, benefiting more than 610,000 women and children, who accounted for 26.7 percent of Tibet's total population.

Unicef and the United Nations' Population Fund provided 880,000 US dollars in cash and equipment, and local governments earmarked 11.87 million yuan (1.43 million US dollars) to maternity and child health care institutes in the counties.

The project will continue, and will be launched in another nine countries during the 1996-2000 period, according to the Regional Public HealthDepartment.