Government and Policy

H1N1 patients need cash: Doctor

By Li Wenfang and Gao Tao (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-20 07:07

GUANGZHOU: Zhong Nanshan, a well-known respiratory doctor and an academician, has urged the government to provide financial help to serious H1N1 flu patients to help with the hefty cost of their treatment.

"The government should put in place a special policy to provide support and help to serious H1N1 flu patients, because there are cases in a number of provinces in which patients have faced difficulty getting treatment due to financial strain," Zhong Nanshan said at a ceremony in Guangzhou on Monday, marking the discharge of a 13-year-old girl, who was previously a serious H1N1 flu patient and has received much attention from the public.

While praising the government for the prevention of the disease and the development of vaccines, Zhong said the issue of aiding serious H1N1 flu patients should be addressed soon. He said he had raised the issue with the State Council earlier but it has remained under discussion.

"Proper treatment for those patients has an important role in maintaining the social stability and relieving the fear of patients," he said.

Zhong mentioned the case in which a 3-year-old boy was found dead and abandoned in a dry ditch in Guangzhou last month after he was treated for serious complications from H1N1 flu but was discharged from the hospital upon repeated requests from his family.

The boy's parents may have insisted on having him discharged for financial reasons, according to Guangzhou Health Bureau officials.

His four days at the Guangzhou Children's Hospital cost 19,307 yuan ($2,800) and the family had only paid 13,600 yuan when they left.

The Ministry of Health said H1N1 flu medical costs could be covered by basic medical insurance in both urban and rural areas.

"Those people who have not joined the medical insurance system, or who incur costs higher than the insurance, can seek help from the country's medical assistance system," the MOH said in a statement posted on its website yesterday.

Although ministry officials did not acknowledge that problems exist, they did say that they would join the civil affairs department to give more assistance to low-income H1N1 flu patient to ease their "actual difficulties".