Children with cerebral palsy will have free consultations and treatment next year, Shanghai Health Education Institute promised yesterday.

A research institute will also be set up to train medical staff and conduct research on treatment, officials said.

Family members will also be trained in rehabilitation skills to help their child. Officials said the long-term project will cover Shanghai and six eastern provinces including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shandong, Fujian and Jiangxi.

There are about 310,000 children aged up to six with cerebral palsy in China, with some 46,000 new patients every year.

"Many children haven't undergone proper treatment and rehabilitation due to financial difficulty or medical capability in their home town," said Dr. Wang Guisong from Renji Hospital's neurosurgery department, who is executive secretary-general for the project.

"Based on an expert panel of the city's leading professionals in related departments, the move will set up a special consultation hotline, organize 10 big consultations and establish a database for sick children for research and follow-up monitoring and treatment."

"We want to give free consultations and surgery to 1,000 sick children, train 200 families with new rehabilitation skills and train 300 medical staff within one year," Wang said. "About 30 high-quality cerebral palsy rehabilitation centers will be set up in regional hospitals next year."

(Shanghai Daily November 6, 2007)