Beijing babies 'to receive health screening'

Newborn babies in Beijing, China, are to be given congenital disease screening from June this year, it has been reported.

According to a joint notice from the Beijing Municipal Health Department and the Beijing Municipal Finance Bureau, tests will be conducted for congenital hypothyroidism, neonatal phenylketonuria, hearing impairment, heart disease and dislocation of the hip.

In addition, regular physical checkups are to be offered to all children under the age of six, providing one parent is a permanent resident in the Chinese capital.

The municipal finance department and regional district and county finance departments are to foot the bill, reports China CSR.

Under the terms of China's one-birth policy, parents who have more than one child do not receive full entitlement to state benefits.

The policy was introduced in 1979 in a bid to ease social, economic and environmental strains in the Asian country, where the population exceeds one billion people.