Sixty percent of China's 1,832 counties, have joined a health education initiative for rural population, said deputy Health minister Gao Qiang here Wednesday.

Gao made the announcement at a 10 year anniversary seminar on the National Health Promotion Project for Chinese Farmers. The project aims to universalize health education among China's 900 million rural population who lack basic hygiene knowledge.

Statistics show that more than 80 percent of China's infectiousdiseases occur in rural areas. Absence of medical service network is one reason. Another is ignorance of basic, daily hygiene knowledge.

According to a survey of the Health Ministry in 2000, only 36 percent of rural population over fifteen years old had some basic knowledge about the importance of clean water, clean environment and prevention of diseases.

The initiative plans to set up health education classes in 90 percent, 80 percent and 70 percent of elementary and middle schools respectively in eastern, central and western provinces. The program will also enable 90 percent, 70 percent and 50 percentof village clinics for health consulting services in the three regions.

As a result, 80 percent, 70 percent and 60 percent of rural population of the three should recognize critical healthcare messages.

Largely media-based, the program has produced 24 TV programs and 30 radio programs, which are broadcast in over 2,000 rural counties. Also it has published several books on health and hygiene written in simple language and dotted with illustrations.

China fails to build a medical service network for its rural population since the rural medical cooperation system, a collective economy mechanism offering cheap medical service, collapsed in 1980s.

There are 1.2 million junior medical staff in rural clinics, who, according to Gao, are "almost incapable of curing diseases" for lack of professional training.

In addition, rural areas lack sanitation infrastructure, which makes them vulnerable to infectious diseases.

"Many diseases could be prevented by basic hygiene knowledge. We are trying to enable them to help themselves, " said Gao.