Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

A ONE-OFF subsidy of 50,000 yuan (US$7,261) will be granted to needy children with thalassemia major. The subsidy can be raised to 90,000 yuan for children in special cases, according to a project jointly launched by Shenzhen Children’s Hospital and Beijing Jingyan Foundation on Tuesday.

The project targets needy children between the ages of 2 and 14 who have a good prognosis after undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at Shenzhen Children’s Hospital.

Thalassemia is one of the most common genetic diseases in Guangdong Province. Children born with the major form of the disease require a lifetime of blood transfusions, which usually start around 3 to 6 months after their birth.

Patients with thalassemia can also get too much iron in their bodies from frequent blood transfusions and need to take either pills or shots to remove excess iron before it builds up in the body, which costs between 3,000 yuan and 14,000 yuan each month for treatment. If hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is used, the operation can cost hundreds of thousands of yuan.

The hospital said that it hopes the project will help more needy children receive treatment and live a normal life.

As of July, a total of 266 HSCT operations had been completed at the hospital, with the survival rate of patients reaching 97.77 percent, which is an advanced level for the country.