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- Source: Global Times
- [01:12 December 07 2009]
Li Guiju of Beijing didn't imagine she would one day be struggling to make ends meet seven years ago. With her son in the air force, and all family members in good health, she felt she was in good hands.
But today, she feels imprisoned by SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
The whole family, including her husband and son, now needs to rely on medication to treat femoral head necrosis, cellular death of bone components, because they used steroid hormones to treat SARS.
It has been almost seven years since the SARS epidemic, and 4,978 out of the 5,327 infected patients have survived. But many of them are still living in the shadow of SARS aftermath and the discrimination that came with it.
There are more than 50 survivors of SARS living in wheelchairs or need to use walking sticks in Beijing because their bones have degenerated from using steroid hormones, China Central Television reported Friday.
Local governments have provided assistance to the patients. In Beijing, those suffering from severe pulmonary fibrosis and femoral head necrosis receive free treatment. Patients who have a job can receive an annual subsidy of 4,000 yuan ($586), and jobless patients can get twice that amount.
Authorities in Tianjin also offer free treatment.
But the report said many patients have not benefited because of the disparity in policies and the lack of information.
Li herself can get the free treatment, but her husband and son cannot.
Li said the whole family has difficulty breathing in the summer, and sometimes they will cry together.
She said his son was transferred to work at a rail transportation institute with a monthly salary of about 1,000 ($146) from the air force after he was infected with the virus.
Making the matter worse is that her daughter-in-law who has not been infected with the deadly virus cannot stand the sadness and wants to leave.
"The side effects of the disease destroyed my son's ambition to seek a job with better pay," Li said. "His wife always complains about poverty and wants to divorce."
The report cited a survey by college students conducted earlier this year that said 74 percent of SARS patients suffer from depression. Six couples out of 10 are divorced.
Chen Weiheng, director of orthopedics in Wangjing Hospital, who has been involved in the relief work with SARS survivors with femoral head necrosis, called for more support from the community.
"Support from relatives and friends and psychological therapy are very important for them," Chen said.
He added that patients of other illnesses would try to keep a distance from the SARS survivors because they are still frightened by the virus.
Statistics issued by the World Health Organization in 2003 revealed that there were 8,422 people infected with SARS in the world, mainly in Asia, and 919 died.
There were 5,327 infections and 349 deaths in the Chinese mainland. In Hong Kong, 1,755 people were infected and about 300 died. Taiwan had 665 cases and 180 deaths.
http://life.globaltimes.cn/health/2009-12/489877.htmlngjing
