The China Red Cross Foundation has set up a special fund to help poor children suffering from leukemia.

The move came after a father tried to kill himself so his organs could be sold to raise money for his leukemia-stricken son.

Wang Rupeng, secretary-general of the foundation, said that every year in China, about 30,000 to 40,000 people are diagnosed with leukemia. Half of them are children, many of them aged between two and seven.

Wang said evidence from recent years has shown the number of children with leukemia is going up.

A hospital in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province last year received more than 1,500 young patients suffering from various blood diseases. Eighty per cent were diagnosed with leukemia.

Prohibitive medical costs, usually 200,000 -- 600,000 yuan (US$24,000 -- 72,000) per patient, often pushes affected families into bankruptcy. Many patients have to give up treatment due to a lack of cash.

The desperate father who attempted to commit suicide was an extreme case.

Fortunately, he was saved. Then, when warm-hearted people heard the news of his suicide attempt, they donated around 60,000 yuan (US$7,200) for his son's medical bills. The boy went to hospital yesterday for a thorough check-up.

The Beijing-based Sunshine Volunteer Association, a non-governmental organization that set up a stem cell database in 2002, said it helped 17 leukemia patients to find "matching" blood to carry out haematopoietic stem cell transplants last year.

"But 10 had to pass up the chance of the operation because they did not have enough money," said Yang Fangfang, executive official of the association. "Giving up could mean death."

"The plight is similar for most of the 4,000,000 leukemia-stricken people in China," said Yang. "It reflects the fact that the country's medical insurance system still leaves much to be desired. China urgently needs to set up a special institution to support patients suffering from leukemia."

Wu Zhanren, a top official with the Health Bureau of Suzhou, a city in East China's Jiangsu Province, said the government should encourage more sectors, such as federations and insurance companies, to take part in building and improving the country's health security system.

"And medical workers should also try to lower medical costs and improve services," Wu said.

Wang Rupeng said the new "Little Angel Fund" has no cash at the moment.

"There is not a penny in the fund," said Wang. "We hope that enterprises, institutions and individuals from home and abroad can offer a hand to the poor leukemia-stricken children."

If you want to help, call the federation on 010-65124690 or 010-65124154.

(China Daily July 1, 2005)