Medical fund to issue first allowance

Shenzhen's emergency medical fund, set up by the Shenzhen Red Cross was to start issuing financial aid to poor patients next week, the association announced at a press release Monday, and stressed that all applications had to be filed through medical institutions.

The Red Cross, which launched the medical fund earlier this month, has received a large number of applications over the past two weeks, and many other people have been phoning for application details, said the association's officials.

Zhao Lizhen, general secretary of the Red Cross, said all applications for financial assistance must be made through the medical institution in which the applicant was seeking treatment; no direct applications would be handled.

When applying for an allowance, patients had to produce a valid statement with their income provided, said Zhao.

An income statement, which is essential to the application, must be issued by the patient's employer, and the self-employed can obtain proof of their financial status from the police station or the neighborhood committee to which they register with for Hukou.

The ID card of the person filling out application is also required. If the patient is not well enough to fill out the application, they can have a relative fill out the form.

The medical record and diagnosis of the applicant issued by the hospital or medical institution must be also be submitted.

Zhao said the Red Cross had their staff stationed in all 68 hospitals and medical institutions in the city covered by the emergency fund to handle applications.

The whole application process takes 10 working days. When an application is approved, money is transferred from the emergency fund to the account of the hospital or medical institution, according to a report in the Shenzhen Economic Daily.

The emergency medical fund had received more than 1 million yuan (US$120,919) in public donations after it was launched, Zhao said. An 85-year-old Chinese American donated 200,000 yuan to the fund Sunday, the largest individual donation so far.

Zhao said the fund was still in need of more money; public donations by individuals and companies were welcome. The Red Cross has set up many donation boxes in hospitals, department stores and other public areas.

In related news, the municipal government has invested 30 million yuan to construct a new computer system, which can identify the exact position of medical emergencies. Global positioning system (GPS) had been launched in all the city's medicial emergency centers, said Jiang Hanping, vice director of the health bureau.

Source: Shenzhen Daily