Sustainability: the elusive dimension of international health projects.

Objective: The Canada-China Yunnan Maternal and Child Health Project (1997-2003) sought to improve the quality of village life and promote development of productivity and social prosperity in Yunnan province, China.

Participants: The project targeted grassroots maternal and child health workers: new and in-service village doctors; traditional village midwives; doctors at township health centres; doctors at county maternal and child health hospitals; and provincial health staff.

Setting: Ten impoverished counties (population 2.