Red Cross account set to benefit ALS patients

People with neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in China are now set to benefit from the ice bucket challenge — as they do in many other parts of the world.

An ALS account was launched Tuesday by the China Red Cross Foundation and the Chinese Medical Doctor Association.

This can be used to help ALS patients through the ice bucket challenge or other donations.

Until now, non-profit organization China-Dolls Center for Rare Disorders received ice bucket challenge donations.

The ice bucket challenge was launched last month in the United States by the ALS Foundation, helping people there who have the disease.

The challenge, in which people film themselves being drenched with ice water or donate to the ALS foundation — or both — has since gone viral worldwide.

Between August 17 and last Friday, China-Dolls Center for Rare Disorders had received more than 8.5 million yuan (US$1.38 million) in ice bucket challenge donations, reported Xinhua News Agency.

Organizers of the Red Cross account hope that the ice bucket challenge and other donations will now benefit ALS patients in a similar way.

All donation details will be available to the public to ensure transparency, the Legal Evening News reported.

Medical experts will determine who needs the aid most and formulate programs to help them, the paper added.

Celebrities around the world have taken the ice bucket challenge.

In China, these include movie stars Carina Lau and Zhang Ziyi and Li Yanhong, founder of China's biggest search engine Baidu.