BEIJING: Over the past decade, an increasing number of impoverished children with severe illnesses have turned to public welfare funds operated by the Chinese Red Cross Foundation, with over 90,000 children with leukemia and congenital heart disease having received timely financial aid by the end of last year.
These public welfare funds include two projects — the Little Angel Fund for patients under 18 with leukemia, and the Angel Sunshine Fund for those under 14 with congenital heart disease.
In 2009 and 2011, supported by the Ministry of Finance, these funds became eligible for being topped up by the central special lottery public welfare fund, to further aid for these children.
The special lottery fund is funded by the proceeds from sales of welfare lottery and sports lottery tickets.
This fund is designed to support public welfare projects and activities, contributing to various sectors such as social welfare, sports development and cultural initiatives across the country.
The special lottery fund has been a primary source of funding for these two projects, providing assistance to tens of thousands of children with serious illnesses.
By the end of last year, these two projects had cumulatively aided 67,214 children with leukemia and 25,834 children with congenital heart disease, totaling 93,048 individuals, according to data from the Chinese Red Cross Foundation.
About 2.56 billion yuan from the central special lottery fund has been used to directly assist some 89,000 children
The incidence rate of congenital heart disease in China was 0.72 percent in 2017, according to data released by the National Health Commission.
The median hospitalization cost for surgical treatment of congenital heart disease in China is approximately 64,000 yuan ($8,900), but costs for more complicated treatment can run into hundreds of thousands of yuan. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
