The rising number of hospices in recent years indicates that more Chinese families are accepting the concept, according to Professor Cui Yitai, director of the China Hospice Care Commission.

Instead of the misunderstandings and even taboos of the past concerning hospice care, people are now more willing to recognize this as a way of letting their relatives finish their lives peacefully, said Cui.

China's first hospice was established in north China's Tianjin Municipality in 1990. There are now more than 120 nationwide.

Since 2001, the Hong Kong Li Ka-shing Foundation has spent 25 million yuan (about US$3 million) every year to build 20 hospice care organizations in 15 provinces and municipalities. They have so far provided services for 22,940 people, said Cui.

The aim of hospice care is to bring people comfort, freedom from pain and serenity in the final years of their lives, with sufficient dignity.

Dr. Fu Tingfei of the No. 3 People's Hospital in Kunming, Yunnan Province, said that in addition to daily care and pain alleviation, the hospice also provides counseling to alleviate people's fears of death.

Most hospices have been built in China's major cities, and have yet to find wide acceptance in small and medium-sized cities or rural areas.

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2004)