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China launches birth control survey
China has launched a nationwide survey to determine the effectiveness and safety of intrauterine devices, a contraceptive tool used by about 100 million Chinese women, the government said Wednesday. Launched July 1, the survey will ask 100,000 people in 11 provinces or municipalities about their experiences with IUDs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It will conclude by the middle of August, and the results will be released in October. Most of the estimated 20 types of devices being used in China were developed in the 1970s and 1980s, raising serious questions about their safety, Xinhua said. Of the 156 million women worldwide who use IUDs, 104 million of them are Chinese, according to the World Health Organization. Many Chinese women still use steel IUDs, instead of safer and more reliable copper devices, the WHO said in a report on its Web site. In the 1970s, China launched a one-child policy to slow the growth of its population, which officially hit 1.3 billion last week. Couples who have unsanctioned children have been subject to heavy fines, job losses and forced sterilization. Human rights groups say China's enforcement of its family planning policies can be harshly coercive. In 2002 Beijing enacted a national law aimed at standardizing birth-control policies and reducing corruption and coercion.
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