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URUMQI, Oct. 18-- The government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region sent the first batch of 100,000 medical kits to rural residents in Aksu Prefecture Tuesday. They are among 1.84 million medical kits to be given for free by Xinjiang to rural farmers and herdsmen in Aksu, Kashgar, Hotan and Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture of Kizilsu this year, according to Xinjiang Health and Family Planning Commission. Xinjiang has invested around 140 million yuan (around 21 million U.S. dollars) to provide a medical kit for every rural household in these areas. The kit consists of regular first-aid medicine, painkillers and cold remedies. More of the medication can be obtained for free in designated local clinics once it is used up, the commission said. The project is a new move for Xinjiang to improve rural health care. In 2016, the autonomous region launched a free health check program. The first overall health checks covered more than 17.5 million residents and cost over 1.49 billion yuan. A new round of universal health checks in the region is underway. | 
