Women's health in China

Women's health in China refers to the health of women in People's Republic of China (PRC), which is different from men's health in China in many ways. Health, in general, is defined in the World Health Organization (WHO) constitution as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".^[1] The circumstance of Chinese women's health is highly contingent upon China's historical contexts and economic development during the past seven decades. A historical perspective on women's health in China entails examining the healthcare policies and its outcomes for women in the pre-reform period (1949-1978) and the post-reform period since 1978.

In general, women's health in China has seen significant improvements since the foundation of People's Republic of China in 1949, witnessed by improvements in multiple indexes such as Infant Mortality Rate(IMR), Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI), etc.^[2] However, due to traditional Chinese ideology on gender inequality and complexities of Chinese political system, challenges in terms of many aspects of women's health, such as reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, are still mounting.