Counties across Southwest China's Guizhou province have started a project to screen women from rural areas for cervical cancer and breast cancer.

Statistics show that during the first seven months of this year, 789,900 free cancer screenings were offered.

The project is funded by the provincial, municipal and county-level governments and aims to provide free cancer screenings for Guizhou's 800,000 rural women from 35 to 64 years old.

To prevent people from falling into – or falling back into – poverty due to disease, Guizhou is offering public welfare insurance for women with severe conditions and caring for impoverished women, in addition to the free cancer screenings.

In Guiyang's Kaiyang county, dozens of women recently queued up at a community health center to receive a free cancer screening. According to one of the women, the screenings are convenient and benefit the local people.

Cancer screenings usually cost around 600 yuan ($87.96) per person. Medical professionals can discover, prevent and treat cancers through the free screening policy before they become too serious.