Tasmanian pharmacists hope to export baby clinic idea to China
A Tasmanian pharmacy with a specialised baby clinic hopes to set up shop across China.
The pharmacy at Glenorchy, near Hobart, has signed an agreement with the Chinese Government to run a pilot project in Beijing, starting in April.
Community health care is rare in China, and many new mothers are forced to wait in long queues at hospitals.
Peter and Elizabeth Hope run a specialised baby clinic at their Glenorchy pharmacy.
Mr Hope says demand in China for community health care is high.
Apart from selling baby formula, mothers can weigh their newborns and have regular access to nurses.
"The Chinese Government have seen the value we've got here and we're introducing it in China," Mr Hope said.
"Mothers in China need the same reassurances, they need the same advice, they're very very conscious on health issues."
Chinese policy consultant Helen Ma welcomed the move.
"It's very difficult to access because there always be long queues in China's hospitals, and there's no clinic and no primary health advice in pharmacies," she said.
The pharmacies would also sell baby formula and other products and aim to quash food safety concerns stemming from a 2008 tainted baby milk scandal.
China presents opportunities for Tasmania: Abetz
Tasmanian baby formula producers are hoping it could pave the way for future investment.
Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz said it presented an opportunity for Tasmanian farmers.
"The benefits for Tasmania will be huge, from a reputational point of view, from a sales point of view and - in my capacity as a Senator for Tasmania and Minister for employment - especially from a jobs point of view," he said.
Mr Hope said: "We are always on the lookout to be supportive for anything that might grow jobs and play to the great strengths that Tasmania has to offer."
The couple hopes to employ local nurses, doctors and pharmacists to staff their offshore centres.
They aim to open 1,000 shops in China by the year 2020.
