Govt, hospitals help 200,000 seriously ill poor patients

The government and hospitals have provided more than 200,000 poor people in rural areas with medical and treatment services for nine kinds of serious illnesses up to the end of October this year, said a senior health official on Friday.

"Promoting special treatment for major diseases for rural poverty-stricken people, which is a significant part of eliminating poverty in rural areas by 2020, has achieved success," said Guo Yanhong, deputy director-general of National Health and Family Planning Commission's medical administration bureau.

The guideline for treatment of major diseases for rural poor population was jointly issued in February by the commission, Ministry of Civil Affairs and the poverty alleviation office under the State Council, after pilot projects in eight provinces.

The plan covered nine severe illnesses, including congenital heart disease in children, gastric cancer, esophagus cancer, childhood leukemia, colon cancer and end-stage renal disease.

According to Guo, there were nearly 158,000 confirmed cases of these nine diseases before November, of which 106,000 patients were cured.