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TB Patients Have Access to Treatment in China's Less-Developedrural Areas

Posted on: Friday, 25 March 2005, 09:00 CST

TB patients have access to treatment in China's less-developed rural areas

KUNMING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- When Huang Yuting, a needy male patient in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, recovered from the tuberculosis, he unbosomed his thanks for the free treatment offered by the local epidemic prevention station from the bottom of his heart.

Born into a poor rural family in Huai'an Village of Tiandeng County in Guangxi, he lost both of his parents when he was a little boy, and he and his handicapped younger brother were left alone. As he caught TB years ago, he landed himself in a direr, poorer position for the medical bills he covered.

Last year, Haung was lucky enough to be selected as one of the 299 TB patients to enjoy free medical treatment as his county became a TB control pilot with economic aid from Britain, Japan and the World Bank.

After a six-month hospital treatment, Huang recovered and gained full confidence in life again.

To date, some 550,000 TB patients across China are entitled to the same free treatment as Huang Yuting, and the majority of them have resumed normal lives.

Tuberculosis (TB), a chronic infectious disease caused by tubercle bacillus and characterized by the formation of tubercles on the lungs and other tissues of the body that often develop long after the initial infection.

The disease, which was curbed and disappeared in the 20th century, staged a comeback in numerous countries around the world over recent years, and once again posed a major public health problem.

China, one of the world's 22 countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis, marked the World Tuberculosis Day nationwide Thursday.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Health, China has 1.45 million new pulmonary tuberculosis cases each year, and about 130,000 of these TB patients died of tuberculosis annually with 80 percent of whom being rural residents.

The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, an economically less- developed region in southern China, has 300,000 TB patients, 60, 000 of whom are infectious pulmonary TB patients, said Tan Mingjie, deputy director of the regional health department.

It costs a TB patient approximately 10,000 yuan (1,204 US dollars) on average to complete necessary treatment. This is a crushing burden for a rural family with an annual income of several hundred yuan. Consequently, many rural TB patients give up treatment.

To help TB patients in financial impasse get over the disease, the State Council, China's central government, has worked out a national tuberculosis prevention and control plan, which provides free treatment and care for poor infectious TB patients.

Since 2001, the central government has spent at least 40 million yuan (some 4.8 million dollars) a year for free TB treatment. The bulk of the funds went to 12 provinces and regions in western China in the past four years. The figure rose to 265 million (31 million dollars) in 2004.

Yunnan Province, a secluded, underdeveloped multi-ethnic region, receives 7.98 million yuan (961,445 dollars) this year for purchasing TB medical treatment and drugs.

Local residents, including migrant workers, can apply for free medical check-ups. If diagnosed with tuberculosis, they will treated free of charge.

Many other provinces in western China have also set up TB treatment systems and obtained bank loans or government funds for free treatment of TB patients who cannot afford medical cost.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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