THE cross-border health-care business is taking shape in Shenzhen as many patients are willing to travel abroad to get medical treatment, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

Tang Chen, 34, traveled to South Korea to get stem cell treatment after he was diagnosed with osteoarthritis. His left knee was injured while doing outdoor sports in 2016 and the injury developed into osteoarthritis despite receiving medical treatment at several hospitals.

Statistics show that there are over 100 million osteoarthritis patients in China, and the disability rate of the disease is up to 50 percent.

Tang lost his job as an electronics engineer because of the disease. According to Tang, he could choose to inject sodium hyaluronate or a steroid into his joint every year, but such therapy is merely palliative.

He could also choose to implant an artificial joint, but the 10-kilogram artificial joint would bring inconvenience to his daily life and he might lose the opportunity to accept a new therapy in the future if his original joint were removed.

When the stem cell therapy for arthritis was approved by the government in South Korea in 2012, such a therapy was only available for clinical trials in China and only a few patients could be chosen to volunteer to receive the therapy.

Knowing that he had little chance of getting the stem cell therapy in China, Tang decided to seek treatment in South Korea. A cross-border health-care agency in Shenzhen helped Tang reorganize and translate his medical records, get a remote diagnosis from South Korean doctors and arrange his trip to South Korea for the therapy.

The cartilage in Tang’s knee recovered well after three months of therapy. “I will have a new knee soon,” he said excitedly.

Li Juan, a 47-year-old who was diagnosed with a rare lung cancer, also got a remote diagnosis from doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States. She felt helpless after visiting many hospitals in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Beijing as most doctors suggested she undergo radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

After the remote diagnosis, doctors from the United States made a five-year disease surveillance plan for Li and suggested that she take medicine to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy. The doctors also said she could consider receiving immunotherapy in the future if needed.

Wang Junyu, chairman of a Shenzhen-based cross-border health-care agency, said patients don’t necessarily have to go abroad to receive treatment if the treatment plans offered by doctors in China are approved by doctors overseas. (Zhang Yang)