Parents seek help for ailing daughter

The parents of a 1-year-old girl suffering from acute leukemia are appealing for financial assistance to pay for a stem cell transplant. The girl, nicknamed Hanhan, from Hubei province, is undergoing treatment at the Shanghai Daopei Hospital.

But without an insurance cover, the parents have run up huge medical bills that they say they cannot pay.

In Shanghai, children with local registered residency can have medical insurance that pays half of the medical bill. Besides, kindergartens and schools also raise funds that pay a maximum of 100,000 yuan hospitalization fee annually. The number can go up to 200,000 yuan per year in cases of diseases like leukemia, cancer, or need kidney and liver transplant.

Hanhan, however, cannot enjoy the benefits as she is neither from the city or a student of a local school.

According to Xinmin Evening News, the parents brought Hanhan to Shanghai after local hospitals were unable to diagnose the disease. The doctors advised the parents that the girl needs urgent stem cell transplant. The Shanghai Cord Blood Bank had also found a matched sample for the girl, but the high transplant costs were delaying the treatment.

The cost of stem cell transplant can go up to 200,000 (US$32,258). But it can rise substantially if the patient has repeated infection.

The girl's mother told the paper that her husband had borrowed money from friends and relatives but it was still not enough for the transplant to go through.