Charity bazaar to help children with congenital heart diseases from poor regions
Local children, volunteers and staff from Shanghai Chest Hospital participated in a charity bazaar yesterday to collect donations for a program offering free surgery for children from poor regions with congenital heart diseases.
Some 300 people participated in a charity bazaar to collect donations for a charity project at Shanghai Chest Hospital that offers free surgeries for poor children with congenital heart diseases yesterday.
Congenital heart disease is the top inborn disability in China, with an incidence of about six to eight in every 1,000 births.
However, children from poor areas or places at higher altitudes see higher incidences due to environmental conditions, poor medical care, a lack of prenatal checks and low health awareness, local experts said.
“The incidence is more than 10 in every 1,000 births in places like Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet and Xinjiang,” said Dr Fan Xiaohong, vice president of Shanghai Chest Hospital, which has continued the project for over ten years and screened over 10,000 children from poorer areas.
“It is a very meaningful project," Dr Fan added. "By helping one sick child, we found the whole family can have the chance to develop and even escape poverty."
