Heart disease screening, free surgery for poor children in Xinjiang

BEIJING -- The Chinese Red Cross Foundation is helping children from poor families in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region receive free congenital heart disease screening and treatment, the foundation said on June 24.

The foundation has partnered with a hospital in Zhengzhou, central Henan Province, to send health experts to the Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Bayingolin in Xinjiang, northwest China.

More than 520 children have been screened for the disease since the program began last Tuesday. A total of 49 cases were diagnosed and among them 45 required surgery.

Preparation is underway to provide free surgery for them in Zhengzhou, sources with the foundation said.

Bayingolin is among places with a high risk of congenital heart disease.

The foundation has organized five such trips to Xinjiang this year to help treat congenital heart disease among children from poor families.