PYONGYANG, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a series of activities to promote women's health and well-being on Wednesday, the World Population Day.

    A special issue of the newspaper "Population Newsletter" was published, and a seminar, along with photo and poster shows were organized in the Grand People's Study House for World Population Day, the Korean Central News Agency said.

    Yang Song Il, chief of the External Exchange Section of the DPRK Population Center, told local media that the DPRK government has long pursued the policy of encouraging population growth and paid great attention to the health of women.

    The government has adopted laws on public health, families, nursing and the upbringing of children and thus has improved women's health and welfare in a systematic way, he said.

    The DPRK has also established a section physician system under which doctors of infirmaries and clinics in residential quarters take charge of families, offering consultations concerning family planning and regularly looking after the health of pregnant women, Yang said.

    The system constitutes a firm guarantee for women's health, he said.

    Yang said the DPRK began cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) from 1986 and is now in the 4th phase of cooperation.

    During the previous phases, the UNFPA provided many medical facilities and medicine to over 80 hospitals in the DPRK, which greatly helped improve women's health in the DPRK, according to Yang.