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Sat,May 10,2014
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China's 'blue lips' struggle for recognition, treatment (4)

By Cheng Yunjie and Tang Zhaoming (Xinhua)    14:59, May 10, 2014
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TOTAL SOLUTION

Liu Junshuai, an official with the Qingdao Health Bureau in charge of the integration of health care services for urban and rural residents, said that from July 2012 to March 2014, 11 urban residents diagnosed with primary PAH received medical assistance with local financing of 349,000 yuan, cutting their personal expenses to 13,500 yuan each year.

Liu said if medical assistance proves affordable through local financing, rural residents and patients in the city who developed PAH as a secondary abnormality from other illness would be included.

"Budget risk is our biggest concern. That is why our current experiment is limited to treatment for primary PAH only. As China does not have epidemiological data on this severe and progressive disease, policymakers have to be prudent when including new treatments in the healthcare system," said Li.

Chinese doctors remain dubious due to the rarity of the disease. The incidence rate for primary PAH is one to two people per million.

But this picture of the disease is incomplete due to low awareness among doctors and lack of recognition of secondary causes of PAH. The disease can be triggered by many illnesses, such as congenital heart defects, chronic obstructive lung disease, sleep apnea syndrome, HIV infection, chronic mountain sickness, lupus and rheumatism.

Around 25 million patients have been diagnosed with the disease worldwide. According to the I SEEK survey, the number in China is roughly 1,500 -- minuscule compared with the country's population of 1.3 billion.

However, with better awareness of the disease among the public and physicians, more patients are expected to be diagnosed.

Chen Jingyu with the People's Hospital of Wuxi does not see the number of patients as an excuse not to cover the treatment.

"Therapies for some cancers and malignant tumors which have higher morbidity and are more costly have been included in China's healthcare program. Why not PAH treatment?" he said.

Wang Chen, academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief of the National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, said the blue lips campaign is an opportunity to improve China's healthcare system to provide better aid to the needy.

"The question is clear. Will the Chinese government and people fulfill their social obligations to save lives, or are we going to sacrifice this minority?" he said.

"What PAH patients need, and what we doctors expect, is a total solution from policy innovations, diagnosis improvement and social care," said Wang.

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(Editor:ZhangQian、Yao Chun)

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