China implants artificial cochleas for over 20,000 hearing impaired children

China has implanted artificial cochleas without charge for more than 20,000 impoverished, severely hearing impaired children since 2009, China's health authority told Xinhua.

The work is part of a special program launched in 2009, allocated a total of 2.3 billion yuan (335 million U.S. dollars), said Duan Yong, an official from the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Duan said at a meeting organized by the World Health Organization on Tuesday that China sets great store by the health of people's hearing, making significant efforts in the area.

Duan added that the health authority will strengthen its efforts in this regard, especially in the prevention of birth defects and newborn screening, as well as improving the capabilities of rural health institutions.