HONG KONG—Roughly a third of pediatric leukemia patients in Guangzhou city, Guangdong Province discontinue chemotherapy because their families are unable to afford it, according to the July 25 Chinese Childhood Cancer Parent Conference.

Southern Hospital and Sun Yat-sen University First and Second Hospitals established a coordinated chemotherapy program with seven other Guangzhou hospitals to treat children with leukemia. Fang Jianpei, director of the pediatrics department at Guangdong Medical Association and Sun Yat-sen University Second Hospital, told Guangzhou Daily that despite a 70 percent recovery rate at the treatment centers, there exists a large proportion of children who discontinue treatment.

According to Fang, up to 40 percent of cancer patients at the treatment centers discontinue treatment as a result of the expense. Parents who take their children home may resort to folk medicine. Fang is concerned that this reduces the children’s chances of recovery.

The cost of chemotherapy for acute lymphocytic leukemia in Guangzhou ranges between 60,000 ($8,783) to 80,000 yuan ($11,711). Treatment for severe cases may cost above 100,000 yuan ($14,639), plus an additional 200,000 yuan ($29,277) for bone marrow transplantation.

Last year, Guangzhou expanded healthcare coverage so that children with cancer are able to receive care. However, coverage remains limited. Families are only able to receive 80,000 yuan ($11,711) worth of coverage after spending 160,000 yuan ($23,422) out of pocket. There are also local programs that may provide some coverage for registered elementary students. A select few children from impoverished families may be eligible to apply for funding from the Women’s Federation.

Fang is hoping that the city government will take the issue of accessibility more seriously. He suggested that the city begins investigation to evaluate the current plight of children affected by cancer in poor communities and budget money to help resolve the problems.

Read the original Chinese article.