Thigh bone patients to get help

Representatives of the China Social Welfare Foundation, the China Association of People with Physical Disorders and the China Disabled Persons' Federation launches participate in a launching event for a charity project to help patients with a degenerative thigh bone disease.[Photo by Jiang Dong/chinadaily.com.cn]

A charity project for people who suffer from decomposition of the round head of their femurs, or thigh bones, aims to provide highly subsidized treatments to preserve their ability to stand and walk.

The "Plan of Standing Up" was launched jointly by the China Social Welfare Foundation, the China Association of People with Physical Disorders and the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Currently, China has about 8 million patients who suffer from the degenerative disease the thigh bone — called femoral head osteonecrosis — and the incidence of the disease has been increasing, particularly among long time alcohol users, said Wang Yaoqing, deputy director of Beijing Nianlun Bone Disease Hospital.

Under the program, selected patients younger than 60 years from across the country will receive treatment vouchers worth 5,000 to 60,000 yuan ($811 to $9,700) at the hospital. Nearly 1,000 patients are expected to benefit.

"The project aims to bring the hope of a cure to the patients, particularly those who are still a productive ages but can't afford treatment," Miao Li, deputy director-general of the welfare foundation said at the project launch.

This debilitating disease typically affects younger patients and can result in destruction of the hip joint, medical experts said.

In China, about 100,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed each year.