Tag Archives: China

Conjoined twin girls were successfully separated after an hour-long surgery at Children’s Hospital of Fudan University yesterday.

The twins were delivered by cesarean section in Shanghai on February 9 when their 26-year-old mother, from neighboring Jiangsu Province, was at 34 weeks of pregnancy.

They were then sent to the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for treatment.

CT scans showed that they were connected by the liver and stomach.

Doctors said the best time for surgery would be when the twins were 3 months old and had a combined weight of 10 kilograms.

By early May, the twins weighed a combined 11kg and were reported to have had a normal growth index.

With the help of three-dimensional imaging technology, the baby girls were separated at 11:16a.m. yesterday. Doctors took another hour to close the skin incision and umbilicus.

Conjoined twins are rare — with a global incidence of 1 in 200,000. Most of them are connected by the chest and belly.

Doctors said about half of conjoined babies die before birth. Some could not live for more than a day after birth, and only about 30 percent of conjoined infants had the chance to survive.

In this case, the deformity was detected in a Jiangsu hospital when the mother was 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Local doctors suggested an abortion, but the mother insisted on visiting a hospital in Shanghai.

After tests, doctors at the Children’s Hospital believed the twins would have a good chance of survival after liver separation surgery.

A trapped miner is lifted from the shaft at the Jilinqiao colliery in Huangfengqiao Township, Youxian County, central China’s Hunan Province, May 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] Six officials, including a deputy county chief, were sacked Monday after 18 … read more

A move to scrap drug price markups has shown early signs of success in optimizing medical resources－particularly the work of specialists－and in lowering the costs of medicine for most patients, according to the Beijing health authority.

As part of the general healthcare reform, measures introduced on April 8 aimed at ending the markup on drugs prescribed at public hospitals and modifying the prices for registration, consultation and treatments.

The average drug cost for each outpatient visit during the past month has decreased by 9.6 percent compared with March, the Beijing Health and Family Planning Commission said.

For inpatient care, the average drug cost for each hospitalization has fallen by nearly 18 percent, while the entire cost dropped by 4.1 percent compared with March.

Fang Laiying, head of the commission, said the latest measures worked well to provide better and more rational treatment at more affordable prices.

Under a hierarchical medical system, he said, patients with minor diseases visit community clinics. Only the seriously ill go to large hospitals for specialist care.

But with no price difference, patients tend to swarm into already crowded large hospitals, even those suffering from a common cold, experts said. Meanwhile, community clinics are underused, resulting in a waste of medical resources.

After modifying the prices for registration, consultation and treatment in the latest reform, more residents, particularly those suffering chronic diseases, began to visit community clinics, Fang said.

Total outpatient visits in community clinics increased by 3.4 percent during the past month over March, according to official data, while visits at large top-level hospitals dropped by 15 percent.

All 3,600 medical institutions in the city, under the new reform, were required to purchase drugs directly from pharmaceutical manufacturers through an open public bidding platform to further reduce prices, he added.

That has helped the capital save 420 million yuan ($60.8 million) in the past month, according to the latest figures available.

Starting in the 1950s, a system to add an average 15 percent to drug prices was implemented at all public hospitals in China to help subsidize hospital operations.

But that led to hospitals prescribing too many medications, and more expensive ones, which contributed to soaring healthcare costs.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong (C front) launches the 2017 National Vocational Students Skills Competition in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, May 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had called for craftsmanship and innovation… read more

The length of Shanghai metro system is now the longest in the world, surpassing the size of networks in other world cities, including New York and Paris.

Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng said on Monday that infrastructure transportation within the city is now an important part of the development between urban and rural areas of Shanghai.

Han added that Shanghai strengthened its position as global port city, with the transport of containers leading the world the past 7 years. Freight transport out of Shanghai’s main airports ranks the third in the world. Air passenger volumes have reached 100 million, which tops China.

In the next five years, more efforts will be made in the transportation integration of Yangtze River Delta, with plans to make every city within the Yangtze River Delta region reachable within 90 minutes of one another.

Additionally, Shanghai will work on increasing its so-called ‘last one kilometer’ transportation, and make public transport the most convenient way of transportation for citizens. ‘Last kilometer’ transportation refers to modes of transport which don’t involve buses or trains, but get you to your final destination, such as bike sharing.