CHINA'S first non-profit website "Safekids on Line" (www.safekidschina.com or www.safekidschina.org) - specially dedicated to child safety - opened on May 30, sponsored by Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals.

　　Aiming to lower the risks of unintentional childhood injury, the website introduces knowledge on child safety and related issues in China and abroad. This website is part of Safekids Worldwide's activities in China.

　　In China, about 2.1 per cent of childhood deaths are due to accidental injury, a leading factor threatening children's lives. During a recent survey of 420 local families, medical experts found many unsafe factors in the family: 34 per cent put chemicals in drinking bottles; 33 per cent of parents leave children alone at home; 24 per cent of families put thermal bottles or drinks in places where children can easily find.

　　According to a recent US survey, the most common injuries children suffer vary by age almost month by month, with the most dangerous time coming at 15 to 17 months.

　　The University of California report, based on a review of more than 23,000 childhood injuries - 636 of them fatal - from 1996 to 1998, was designed to alert parents and doctors to the most common hazards at any given point.

　　During the first year of life, the study found that unspecified falls were the main source of injury before three months, battering by parents or caregivers at three to five months, falls from furniture at six to eight months, swallowing foreign objects at nine to 11 months and hot liquid or hot vapours at 12 to 17 months.

　　In general, the overall injury rate for all causes, everything from fires to ingestion of drugs, rapidly increased with age starting at three to five months and peaked at 15 to 17 months. (Star-Agencies)