Chinese doctor volunteers to help children with cerebral palsy

World Today

Nearly 2 million children in China have cerebral palsy. In central China, one doctor is trying to help. Song Zhaopu’s hospital has provided free treatment to patients for 7 years.

CCTV’s Xia Ruixue reports.

In Ruzhou city of central China’s Henan province, Song has been treating children, including orphans with cerebral palsy, free of charge. If children with the disease receive treatment before the age of 3, it is possible for them to be able to walk.

At the Traditional Chinese Medicine at Jingeng Hospital, Song has treated nearly 3,000 orphans with cerebral palsy. Eight hundred of them have recovered and were adopted by families both in China and abroad.

“We are doctors. It’s our responsibility to treat and save people. If we are able to treat these children, we should do that. We’re happy to see those recovered children adopted by loving families and living a happy life,” Song said.

Jingeng Hospital experienced several obstacles after receiving these orphans. There was not enough room to accommodate them, and Song had to pay for their baby formula, nursing staff and medical equipment. All of this came out of his own pocket.

Song, 52, has been practicing medicine for 37 years. He earned his reputation by combining traditional Chinese medicine and rehabilitation exercises in his treatment procedure.

In 2015, Song visited the the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where he was shocked to see so many children with cerebral palsy need help.

“Before we came here, my boy couldn’t stand at all. His feet were bending all the time. We spent all of our savings to treat him, but no progress was found. In the second month when we came here, he could stand for 30 seconds on his own. Now he can walk. Both of us are happy,” said Gulisumusake, a mother of a child with cerebral palsy.

To treat more children with cerebral palsy from Xinjiang, two rehabilitation centers have been set up in Moyu county and the Hotan prefecture, where 379 children have received treatment,” Song said.