Voices
Families with bad health need help
By Qin Zhongwei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-10 11:06
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 WANG JING / CHINA DAILY
Shao Shuai receives donations forwarded by doctors at Daopei Hospital. Shao donated marrow to save his mother who suffers from leukemia.
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Shao Shuai, a 12-year-old boy from Jiangsu province, is the most impressive person I've talked to recently.
Like everyone else who has met him, I was deeply touched meeting this brave teenager face-to-face. To save the life of his single mother who has acute leukemia he donated his marrow and then quit school to take care of her.
I twice visited the hospital where his mother was being treated. The first time I saw the boy, his mother was in the quarantine room and he was talking to her on the connecting phone in a very soft voice.
I was immediately seized with a sadness that I cannot express. To me, he looked like a tough adult, although at that moment the prognosis for his mother was not optimistic.
The 42-year-old woman was in a critical condition and the family did not have enough money for the operation. However, you could tell from his eyes that the boy would never give up. He was so determined. He would do everything for his beloved mother.
A lot of citizens, who got to know of him through the newspapers or TV, flocked to the hospital to see Shao Shuai.
Without exaggerating, all ages came to see him, men and women, young and old. Some parents even brought their children with them, saying Shao set a good example for their children, who they claimed were spoiled and took their parents' love for granted.
Within days the media was reporting that the donations had surpassed 600, 000 yuan, which was quite sufficient for his mother's surgery and treatment.
On my second visit on the day of the Lantern Festival, he had donated his marrow and the outlook was good. The boy in front of me this time looked like a 12-year-old boy. He played with his mobile phone and giggled when some volunteers joked with him. Flowers, food and gifts were on the table to greet him.
Thanks to the media attention and people's care, this heart-wrenching story began to have a happier future and I was pleased to see that this 12-year-old will not have to shoulder the burdens that a boy of his age doesn't deserve to bear all by himself.
These days, however, when I follow the news of Shao Shuai, I think of all the other people who suffer from leukemia, and I realize that Shao and his mother are lucky really, and that the lucky ones are the minority.
According to official statistics in 2009, there are at least four million leukemia patients in China, with around 30,000 to 40, 000 new patients each year, half of them children.
Another statistic that makes the situation even worse is that the average cost of a bone marrow transplant - the main treatment for the disease nowadays - is around 300, 000 yuan, which is beyond what most Chinese families can afford, especially since the disease is not covered by medical insurance in most provinces because of the expense.
Faced with these hard truths, a simple donation or any other individual efforts do not seem enough to help. The current medical insurance system, however, is inadequate to allow reimbursement for such large medical bills, which not only lays a heavy burden on the patients financially, but also undermines their confidence and hope.
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The burden of suffering from diseases like leukemia should not be shouldered by individuals, but through social insurance, whereby resources from the government and society play a role.
I hope that the story of little Shao Shuai and his smile will not let people forget the pain of those who are still battling the disease.
