The amount of money invested in a non-profit project to provide safe drinking water in west China since its launch in 2001 has hit 600 million yuan (about 95 million U.S. dollars), according to the project's managing organization.

The Water Cellar for Mothers Project has guaranteed supplies of safe drinking water for 1.8 million residents through the construction of 128,000 cellars and 1,400 water supply facilities as of the end of last year, the China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) announced Thursday.

"The project is playing an important role in providing access to safe drinking water in rural areas," said Qin Guoying, CWDF secretary-general.

The CWDF has made multiple efforts to lift rural residents, especially women, out of poverty in China's drought-plagued regions.

On Thursday, buses providing medical services were sent to rural women and children in west China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai as part of another program launched by the CWDF in 2003.

Doctors on the 48 buses, donated by China Construction Bank, will carry out cervical and breast screenings, gynecological disorder treatment and pregnancy training for local women, said Zhen Yan, vice chairwoman of the CWDF.

"We should make efforts to improve women and children's health in rural areas and keep a close eye on the effects of the buses in order to make further progress," Zhen added.

The "Mother Health Express" program has so far dispatched 1,337 buses to 30 provinces, cities and districts and benefited more than 30 million people.

Source:mwr.gov