China's 'God of Medicine' honored with highest national award

Cai Wenjun
The granddaughter of Dr Wang Zhenyi, a renowned leukemia expert, accepted the Medal of the Republic on his behalf after a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on Sunday.
Cai Wenjun

The granddaughter of Dr Wang Zhenyi, a renowned leukemia expert, accepted the Medal of the Republic on his behalf after a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on Sunday. National medals and honorary titles, the highest state honors, were awarded to the recipients by President Xi Jinping ahead of the 75th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Wang will turn 100 in November, so travel was difficult for him and his granddaughter Wang Wei went to Beijing to attend the ceremony, while Wang watched a live broadcast at his home in Shanghai with his students and colleagues from Ruijin Hospital.

China's 'God of Medicine' honored with highest national award
Ti Gong

Dr Wang Zhenyi (center) watches the live broadcast of the ceremony with students and colleagues.

Wang Wei is also a doctor and graduated from the same school as her grandfather, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, at which Wang also served as director. The younger Wang practices medicine in the United States.

The medal presentation will be a highlight of this year for Wang, who said he was "very honored" to receive it and wants "the young generation of medical staff to study well, think well and keep making questions and innovation."

He told his students he did not want a grand ceremony when they asked how he would like to celebrate his 100th birthday.

"I will be satisfied at being 100 years old," Wang said.

A meeting sharing and promoting Wang's achievements and spirit was held at Ruijin Hospital on Sunday afternoon, where his patients, students, and young doctors shared their feelings about Wang.

The doctor is nicknamed "China's God of Medicine," for saving patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia by discovering a new use for an existing medicine which made the disease the first curable form of leukemia.

In the late 1970s, Wang led his team to develop an all-trans-retinoic acid treatment for APL and then further developed an all-trans-retinoic acid combined with arsenic trioxide therapy for the same disease, raising the five-year survival of the most deadly leukemia from 10 percent to 94 percent.

To benefit leukemia patients, Wang did not apply for a patent for his therapy, but shared it selflessly. The therapy was adopted by doctors worldwide.

Dr Zhao Weili, Ruijin's vice president and a student of Wang's, said the drug was sold for only 11 yuan (US$1.60) per pack in China at the time, and even now is only 290 yuan and covered by government-run medical insurance. Most similar oncology medicine costs more than 20,000 yuan at present.

"The price overseas is only US$600," Zhao said. "Because of Wang, it helped save billions of medical cost for the disease sufferers.

"He said he wanted all his patients to afford the treatment. Patients all over the world have benefited from his therapy and regained new life after the effective treatment."

In 1994, Wang won the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Prize, the highest prize in international oncology, becoming the first Chinese to win such an honor over the past century. In 2010, Wang won China's Highest Science and Technology Prize of the year.

China's 'God of Medicine' honored with highest national award

Wang's patients, colleagues and students share their respect for him.


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