In an interview with Sputnik, Elvira, mother of the child, said that her daughter, Rosa, had health issues even before birth.
When the child was born she weighed less than a kilogram and could not breathe on her own. In addition she had brain hemorrhage. Through the efforts of the medical staff the newborn was saved.
However, as soon as the parents thought the worst was over they heard a terrible diagnosis: Rosa had cerebral palsy.
By the end of her first year of life, “my daughter did not know how to do anything: sit or crawl. A few months later there was a small improvement. After rehabilitation course in Yekaterinburg, Rosa started to roll over in bed. In the summer, we were suggested to undergo rehabilitation in China. We had nothing to lose and so on August 26, we flew to Beijing,” Elvira told Sputnik.
Panda Project for rehabilitation of children
“For a month’s stay in the clinic, we paid 3,100 dollars. This amount included the cost of treatment and accommodation on the hospital grounds, food costs were separate. The complex procedures included physical therapy, acupuncture, massages and mud baths. Plus there was a course of injections of Gonliozid drug, which has helped Rosa make a real intellectual breakthrough.”
She further said that the living conditions were better than she had expected. “We lived in a cottage with 5 other families, all Russian-speaking. Each family had a separate room with a toilet, shower and refrigerator. The meals were prepared in the communal kitchen. I liked the friendly attitude of the medical staff. Our curator Dr. Shi visited and inspected Rosa daily, sometimes even two or three times a day.”
The International Project Panda was implemented by the Russian Children's Fund in partnership with the China Foundation for Children and Adolescents (CCTF).
The project manager of the Pandad Project, Dmitry Likhanov, spoke to Sputnik in an interview about the work done by the project.
“The project Panda is a Russian Children's Fund which collaborates with several medical institutions in China, which have been inspected by us. It is the Beijing Institute of pediatrics and Erkang Baiwang clinic which is a University Hospital of Chinese medicine in Guangzhou. We are committed so that the Russian children are treated with the best Chinese doctors who are working using modern techniques,” Likhanov told Sputnik.
Within the framework of the International Project Panda, the travel expense of the sick child is covered by the Russian Children's Fund. A ticket is available for one accompanying adult.
Money for the treatment is something the family needs to manage on their own. However, as Likhanov said, one month’s rehabilitation for cerebral palsy in China is not necessarily paid by parents.
Low-income families can receive one-time allowance from the municipal budgets and the majority of the time families also turn for help to charitable organizations.
