A total of 11 major hospitals in Guangdong Province had mapped out treatment plans for poor patients after a nationwide internal educational campaign was launched in January for Chinese Communist Party members.

In response to a call from the provincial health authority, around 30,000 Party members of almost 400 health and sanitation organizations in the province, one-third of the total Party members in the sanitation sector, had signed up to work voluntarily for patients who were unable to pay medical fees.

Hospitals and medical organizations will help around 10,000 patients. The Wuyi Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Jiangmen City has offered free treatment for 50 patients.

The city's 800 Party members in 17 medical institutions were participating in the aid program.

Medical workers in Foshan City visited Lianshan People's Hospital and offered free treatment for 21 patients. The hospital selected 10 poverty-stricken areas in Gaoming District to offer free medicine to poor patients.

Medical workers in Zhaoqing had raised 300,000 yuan (US$36,200) in donations to treat more than 260 patients. Zhaoqing No. 1 People's Hospital raised 25,850 yuan for 10 cataract operations.

A Meizhou hospital will conduct three operations on cataract patients Monday and Heyuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital had canceled fees for 13 poverty-stricken patients and raised 7,000 yuan for other patients.

(Shenzhen Daily March 21, 2005)