登陆注册
29382200000005

第5章 Eye on China(4)

The government needs to moderately relax the threshold for access to the medical services market, he said, as well as launch programs to encourage more qualified medical staff and college graduates to work in county- and village-level health centers.

Demand for illegal clinics among poorer sections of society is also intensified by both the lack of social insurance coverage and the exorbitant fees charged by large hospitals, said Chen Wen, a professor in public health from Shanghai Fudan University.

“People with adequate medical insurance can go to hospital but those without must either simply endure minor illnesses or go to smaller, cheaper - and possibly illegal -clinics,” he said.

More than half of the rural population of China does not have adequate medical insurance, say analysts, who argue that closing the gap between urban and rural residents is one of the biggest challenges facing a country in the process of fast urbanization and industrialization.

It is not uncommon to hear stories of how a rural family went bankrupt after one of them caught a serious disease, said Chen. “Although the government is promoting a rural cooperative medical insurance system throughout the countryside, a vacuum is being left for these migrant workers in the city.”

Under the rural cooperative scheme, people can only seek reimbursement for medical fees incurred in the region they are from, not the place they live.

“We need to improve the plan so that people do not need to take the risk for acheaper choice,” said Chen.

March 16, 2010

They survived SARS, but live in agony

SARS survivors are struggling to cope with the horrific side effects of the hormone treatment that save

reports Peng Yining.

In the war on SARS seven years ago, Fang Bo was hailed a national hero. After winning his own battle against the deadly virus at a Beijing hospital, he was lauded by the mediaas a symbol of hope, and inundated with letters and flowers from the public.

Seven years on, the 58-year-old is all but a forgotten survivor, crippled by the very treatment that saved his life.

His hips are now lined with 30-cm scars from operations to replace his thigh bones after he developed osteonecrosis, a wasting condition and a side effect of the hormone therapy he received in 2003. The disorder also affects his shoulders and knees.

“All the bones in my body are becoming like plaster, fragile and breakable,” said Fang,a retired Beijing cook, who can still walk but lives in constant agony. “This condition doesn’t kill you quickly, it tortures you for the rest of your life.”

More than 5,000 people were infected during the outbreak of SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - on the Chinese mainland, where the final death toll hit 349,according to a WHO report on Aug 15, 2003.

Fang, whose wife and sister-in-law died from the virus, spent 40 days receiving treatment in hospital. When he was discharged, he donated blood antiserum to helpscientists create a cure and offered his body to medical science after his death.

“I am healthy again,” he told Face to Face, a China Central Television talk show, days after leaving hospital. “I want to help people to fight against SARS like I was helped. I believe my life in the future will still be beautiful.”d theiJust six months later, he was diagnosed with osteonecrosis. He had operations on his femurs in 2005, 2006, and 2009, surgeons removed pieces of bone as big as fingernails from his right shoulder.

“Every media organization reported that people would help me and wouldn’t forget me, but where are they when I lay alone after surgery?” he cried as he leafed through newspaper cuttings carrying headlines about his amazing recovery and the doctors who helped save him.

Fang is one of about 300 SARS survivors in Beijing struggling with side effects after treatment in 2003, with small numbers also in other cities, according to Chen Weiheng, adoctor at the capital’s Wangjing Hospital.

He explained more than half of all China’s SARS victims were treated with hormone therapy in Beijing. Many have since developed osteonecrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis- a scarring of lung tissue - and depression.

“The after-effects can’t be cured, so they have to face a lifetime of treatment.”

Fang Bo is facing his latest fight alone. Other than his wife, seven other members of his family were struck down in 2003. He has spent most of his retired life in the wards of Wangjing Hospital and, even after major surgery, receives few visitors. “My family is not able to take care of me. My relatives can hardly take care of themselves,” he said.

His only companions are his “sick friends”, the patients who occupy the beds next to his.

“What if we were all disabled? Who will take care of us?” said patient Li Chaodong,51, whose wife, Bao Baoqin, also suffers post-SARS side effects. “Nobody told me anything about the side effects to the hormone treatment but I don’t blame anyone. The treatment saved my life. Now I must continue to survive after SARS.”

Fang fell down in his 11th-floor apartment in Beijing in 2009 and was unable to get back up, his arms and legs too weak to support his frame. At that moment, he contemplated ending his life - but even that, he found, was a futile desire. “I wanted to jump out the window but how could I? I couldn’t even get up. I thought SARS was a nightmare but I was wrong. The real pain came after SARS.”

The central government launched a major study into the lives of SARS survivors in 2004, releasing a list of 300 people seriously affected by the side effects of the hormone therapy two years later.

“The list is constantly updated,” said Chen. “Anyone who meets the criteria are on the list and the government covers the total cost of their treatment for the three most common side effects: osteonecrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and depression.”

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 穿越综漫的日常人生

    穿越综漫的日常人生

    【妄想学生会+青春猪头少年+五等分+我们无法一起学习+路人女主+名侦探的部分人物+龙女仆+你的名字(后期可能有加)】【由于设定原因(其实就是作者懒)(划掉)作品中所有人物全部都在同一所高中】王鹏看着自己肩上的学生会肩章表示自己很慌,在家里看着番,突然心脏一阵抽搐,下一秒就出现在了这个世界,父母双亡,无妹有房,他这才意识到自己这是穿越了啊
  • 团宠女配她渣了大佬

    团宠女配她渣了大佬

    【古穿今】【男强女强】【1V1双洁】传闻墨氏集团总裁墨璟寒从小天资过人,矜贵地很。家族给他选了个未婚妻,据说是个娇纵跋扈、声名狼藉的草包废物。提起这个未婚妻——学校同学指责:叶轻就是一个草包,不学无术,仗着家里有钱为非作歹,估计连毕业都是个问题!娱乐圈明星嘲笑:嗤!叶轻啊,带资进组,一看就是潜规则上位的花瓶一个!豪门父母告诫孩子:以后要学就学叶家三个哥哥,可千万别学叶轻!后来……叶轻不仅顺利毕业,斩获无数奖项,凭借着出色的演技成为娱乐圈影后。叶轻慢悠悠道:草包?花瓶?别学我?*传闻墨璟寒衰神附体,三天一小灾,五天一大难。走个路能掉进水坑,乘个电梯会遭遇电梯故障,吃个饭会被噎住。自从遇见了叶轻,墨璟寒简直开了挂,事业顺风顺水,人生畅通无阻。不近女色的高冷总裁在撒狗粮的道路上越走越远。就在两人如胶似漆的时候,叶轻突然宣布甩了总裁。众人冷笑:别说笑了!是总裁把你给甩了吧!谁知道“甩了叶轻”的墨总慌了神,每天追着叶轻:“老婆,求复合~”
  • 暗恋也能成明恋

    暗恋也能成明恋

    一段年少时的暗恋,牵出一生的纠缠。初中时代的许潇冷漠是全校的冷漠校花,这样的许潇让唐羽博一见倾心,开朗直率的他一心想要许潇注意他,终于身为校花的许潇对他有所关注。然而,不善表达的他无法说出对许潇的爱意,直到许潇出国留学也始终没有说出口。五年后,许潇回国,在大学——梦伊拉克学院报名的那天,虽然人很多,但第一眼就看到她,她依然那么如天使般美丽,气质依然如故……本书从五年后在大学的重逢开始,把一段刻骨铭心的爱情娓娓诉来。男主角唐羽博的深情执着,平静的外表下汹涌着刻骨的相思,语言中暗藏着最深的温柔。如果世界上曾经有她出现过,……就如他自己所言:“如果我们有缘,就一定会相遇,若没缘,我又何必纠缠呢?”
  • 此爱1

    此爱1

    在懵懂不知情爱为何物的年纪,我单纯的被那女孩吸引,是,没有情色,没有欲望,只是因为她能够使我安心,使我平静,这是一种心灵的契合,她看透我表面的伪装,懂我的自私和假装的坚强,而我想要一般待她。但生活诸多磨难,太多时间里我无法确定去从,最干净的爱要受到最不干净的世俗影响,不忘初心,能坚持多久不忘?
  • 凝魂之泪

    凝魂之泪

    齐鑫,一个三流小说家,二流的推理家,一流的loser。直到有一天醒来后,一切都发生了变化,小故事看大世界。
  • 医学专家解读:女性十大性困惑

    医学专家解读:女性十大性困惑

    性生活是人类生活的重要组成部分,它关系到夫妻恩爱,家庭幸福,社会安定。女子性功能障碍是女性的常见病、多发病,由于性的隐私性而使得许多患者得不到及时有效的治疗,不少患病妇女在两性世界中痛苦挣扎,渴求科学诊治。本书遵循生物—心理-社会医学模式对女子怀功能方面的问题作了较为详尽的论述,并提出了解决问题的方法与对策,是一本理论与实践相结合的科普读物。适合医学专业人士、女性和夫妻阅读。
  • 被陆首席认定了

    被陆首席认定了

    (甜宠爽1v1)“爹地,妈咪又吃了我的巧克力,求补偿!”“让人送一箱巧克力过来,我老婆要吃。”某少对下属说。小包子:???他就知道是这样,看来他是时候离家出走了……重生前,云七念看见陆北深都避而远之。重生后,云七念一天不见陆北深就难受。重来一次,她洗心革面,打脸渣男虐渣女,走上人生巅峰!推荐新书:《祁先生你被拉黑了》
  • 我能看懂道德经

    我能看懂道德经

    至诚之道,可以前知……福祸将至,善必先知之;不善,必先知之。唐北风发现,他突然有了一种难以理解的超级直觉……
  • 叱咤霸途

    叱咤霸途

    这必将是一个属于英雄骄子武者的大时代。这也是一个普通人只能仰视的时代。大浪过后金石现,必将有一人顺天而应脱颖而出,引领人类走向更加繁荣昌盛的大时代!一切邪恶势力,跳梁小丑都将死去,没有人能够阻击云峰前进的脚步,天命不可违。
  • 暹心自有灵以珍

    暹心自有灵以珍

    茅家的术法小弱鸡,遇到国外术法大boss,看看熟强熟弱……话说一物降一物……