China Health & Science
Photo of Crying Single Mum Shows Harsh Reality of Healthcare in China
The heartbreaking photos of a desperate mother are going viral for the second time.
A photo that is currently going viral on Chinese social media shows a crying mother in Shanghai kneeling down by her toddler son on the sidewalk.
The text accompanying the photo says:
“On Shanghai Beiyuan Street, a single mother kneels on the street in the cold wind. She buries her head in her child’s arms and quietly sobs. The 3-year-old son suffers from hydrocephalus [“water on the brain”], and they previously came to Shanghai to seek medical treatment because he had an infection. After using up all their money, they were forced to leave the hospital. The helpless mother just sat on the street, feeling sorry for her child.”
The photo received thousands of comments on Weibo today, with many people offering to help the mother out. “It hurts to see this,” some said: “She wants to be able to help her son, but she does not have the resources.”
Many Chinese face major obstacles in getting access to the healthcare they need. Under China’s current medical system, it is not easy for people from rural areas to gain access to medical facilities in the major cities, as they are not covered there and will have to pay for medical care themselves.
The issue is related to China’s hukou (household registration) system: government-subsidized rural medical insurance is often not valid in a different province, which means that villagers who fall seriously ill are not covered when they travel to first-tier cities for medical care.
So-called ticket scalpers (票贩子) take advantage of the system and people’s eagerness to see a doctor by using local identification cards to book appointments and then selling them to people without the proper documentation.
As for the crying single mother; this is not the first time these photos make their rounds around Chinese social media. The scene was captured on camera approximately four months ago, in early December of 2017.
It is not uncommon for the same story or photos to go viral again or to keep circulating on Weibo, similar to viral news stories on Twitter or Facebook.
According to Phoenix News, the mother is the 45-year-old Guo Yinzhen (郭银珍), who is a single parent since she divorced from her estranged husband some years ago. Her son’s name is Guo Zhenghan (郭政焓), and they come from a village in Datian county, Sanming, in Fujian – some 830 kilometers from Shanghai.
The photos were reportedly taken on December 1, 2017, when a reporter joined some volunteers to pay a visit to the Shanghai’s Children’s Hospital and came across the crying mother and then asked her about her story.
Photos from Sina.com
Guo Zhenghan was born in November of 2014 and has congenital hydrocephalus, meaning he already had it at birth. From 2014 to 2016, the child underwent three surgeries, but his condition deteriorated in May of 2017. Since November 2017 alone, the child was admitted to the hospital four times because of a potentially fatal bacterial complication.
Having used up all her money and still needing some 100,000s yuan (more than $15,000) for further treatments, Guo Yinzhen had no choice but to leave the hospital again, which is when she helplessly sat down on the street with her son.
In March 2018, Sina News also reported about this story, saying that Guo Yinzhen is a laid-off factory worker who has not been able to work since the birth of her child. Her parents are farmers who make a living by plucking tea leaves.
Sina also writes that the family has already spent 400,000 yuan (±US $63,000) on medical expenses, and still owe around US $47,000 in debts.
“I just feel so bad for the mother,” many people on Weibo respond.
“Since this is [the state of] medical treatments in Chinese society, parents have to make sure they can afford the medical costs if their child falls ill,” another person comments: “It is the best to purchase a commercial insurance. They’re not cheap, but even if costly, they need to buy it.”
In search of how Guo and her son are now doing, we found a buried Weibo post dated December 12, which only received four comments, in which a netizen writes:
“On December 1, the crying single mother kneeling in the cold by her son has received ample attention. On December 5, with the help of the Xiaoxingxin Foundation, single parent Guo Yinzhen was able to bring her child Guo Zhenghan to Shanghai again for medical treatment, where the notable pediatric neurosurgeon Bao Nan operated the child. Thank you for all your care.”
The update was also confirmed by the Xiaoxingxin Foundation with a post on Weibo (@小星欣公益), which also said that according to the doctor, the infection had gone and that the brain development of the boy was “looking good.”
“Why can’t we set up a system in which children will always be able to receive complete basic healthcare?” one netizen wondered.
On March 15, China Central Television reported that future reforms in China’s healthcare system will make healthcare more accessible and affordable, especially for rural communities – it does not say on what term these changes will be realized.
By Manya Koetse
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Japanese Restaurant in Shanghai Faces Backlash for Offering “Anti-Radiation” Meals
Amidst the panic surrounding Fukushima, this Shanghai-based Japanese-style restaurant ventured into a new business approach.
Since August 24th, when Japan started the release of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima power plant into the ocean, a myriad of related topics have surged across Chinese social media platforms.
The dissemination of news concerning the Fukushima wastewater discharge, amplified by Chinese media outlets, has sparked considerable unrest in various ways.
Among these is the phenomenon of salt hoarding. There have been dozens of posts on Weibo showing extreme examples of people stockpiling salt. In some places, people queued for up to an hour to buy salt while early-bird shoppers left stores with heavily laden shopping carts.
China also saw instances of salt hoarding in 2011, just after the tsunami and Fukushima disaster. Some people equate ‘salt’ to ‘sea salt’ and they are concerned that salt stocks could potentially become contaminated due to the Fukushima wastewater. But there is also a general belief that salt consumption could provide protection against exposure to radioactivity.
Nonetheless, regular table salt does not actually provide protection against radiation, and consuming excessive amounts of iodized salt could potentially pose health risks on its own.
While scientists and critics find the recent panic to be unfounded – emphasizing that Japan’s actions fall within the safety limits of the Atomic Energy Agency and that the environmental impact is minimal, – a prevailing skepticism toward Western powers combined with official media boosting news concerning the discharge of radioactive water, ensures that Fukushima-related fears and misconceptions remain pervasive.
The concerns surrounding Fukushima have already had negative consequences for many business owners in China, especially for some Japanese-style restaurant owners who felt the need to change their theme, change their name, or explicitly state that their ingredients are not actually coming from Japan.
Meanwhile, there are also some who are trying to capitalize on the situation for profit.
One Japanese-style restaurant in Shanghai’s Hongqiao recently starting offering a so-called “anti radiation” set meal (“防辐射”套餐). The set meal, which was first introduced on online platform Dianping, included ingredients such as tomatoes, edamame, tofu, and spinach.
The Japanese restaurant introduced the menu on the 25th, a day after Japan started discharging the first batch of wastewater into the ocean. While various Chinese media write that there is no scientific basis for the radiation-blocking effects of these foods, the restaurant stated they no longer use any products from Japan and that ingredients used are all sourced locally.
According to various news posts, the restaurant compiled the menu through research and seeking advice from a nutritionist. The restaurant also associated each dish with particular benefits, including claims of “reducing skin damage” or “stimulating cell growth.”
But soon after the restaurant had put their anti-radiation menu online, it became a big topic of discussion, with one related hashtag on Weibo getting over 140 million views (#上海一日料店上架防辐射套餐#).
“Of course, the next step is to make a quick buck by pushing anti-radiation products,” one popular comment said (using the phrase gē jiǔcài 割韭菜, ‘harvesting chives,’ also explained in our latest newsletter).
Other people wondered why one would order such a menu if you might as well cook the exact same things at home. “Why would I pay 28 yuan for tomato with seasoning?”
Meanwhile, Chinese media outlets, citing legal experts, focused more on the legal problems surrounding the menu, suggesting that making false claims is against the law.
Following the controversy, the restaurant has now pulled its menu offline.
Nonetheless, the restaurant won’t be the first or the last business owner to profit from Fukushima fear and anger. While some are selling anti-radiation tablets, others are selling t-shirts with slogans opposing Japan’s decision to discharge the wastewater.
T-shirt sold on Taobao opposing the “ocean dumping” of Fukushima wastewater (screenshot via Whatsonweibo).
On Weibo, local authorities and media accounts are cautioning consumers against purchasing ineffective products that offer no protection against radiation exposure, reiterating that buying loads of salt will not help either.
By Manya Koetse
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Jonathan
March 27, 2018 at 8:20 pm
The British NHS health system is the way any socialist state should follow:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/18/nye-bevan-history-of-nhs-national-health-service
Bren Branch
May 20, 2018 at 12:20 pm
No mother anywhere should ever have to go through this heart wrenching ordeal of having a child who needs medical care and not be able to get it.
It is heartbreaking to see these photos. And the pain in her face and her eyes is real. She loves her baby very much. Her heart is so heavy for her baby. One of the most helpless and painful feelings in the world is one in which you think you are letting your baby down. I pray that care will be available to all children of the world someday soon; that no child need suffer because their parents can not afford the huge medical bills involved or there is no insurance coverage or medical care for their particular condition and the children are never left to wonder why they have to suffer so much. I would ask every Christian who reads this to pray with me and you ask the Father to be advocate for the children. Amen.
This little boy is so adorable and precious. Look at his beautiful little smiling face. There is trust in that little face when he looks into his mother’s eyes.
I would love to just hold him next to me in my arms and tell him things will be OK. I would like to put my arms around his mother and tell her things will be ok from now on, that she need not worry should he ever become sick again.
God bless her and her baby boy and all the other mother, fathers and children like him. Jesus said Suffer (let) the little children come unto me.” Maybe we need to give Him
more access to our children so that His Power be made more manifest in their lives. There is definite power in Faith in Jesus Chrisr ❤️