Health Bureau claims it is ‘unnecessary’ to treat girl with cancer in US

The Health Bureau (SSM) has made a public statement regarding the case of a child seeking cancer treatment, acknowledging that is their responsibility to “provide an adequate and timely treatment to the illness, and that the Bureau is making every possible effort to treat the girl.”
The statement issued on January 6 follows a fundraising campaign organized by a group of local citizens, which aimed to collect money for the child’s treatment in the U.S. The sick child is a local student and was diagnosed with the illness in 2012.
According to information released by the SSM, the child was sent to Hong Kong after being diagnosed with cancer. A bone marrow correspondence examination was then carried out in order to test her compatibility with the Hong Kong bone marrow donor bank, which is part of an international database for bone marrow donors.
In view of the above, the SSM considered that was neither productive nor necessary to search for such services in another country; should there be a compatible donor outside of Hong Kong, the Macau patient will be considered, monitored and transported to Hong Kong.
The bureau also added that it “is aware of new solutions and treatments and will consider all medical opinions in order to provide adequate treatment to the patient.”
The SSM made the donors’ database available to Macau citizens in December 2012. Over 700 local citizens have been registered on this database at last count.
A bone marrow or cord blood transplant is a medical process that replaces unhealthy bone marrow. It can be used to treat patients with life-threatening blood cancers like leukemia, diseases that result in bone marrow failure like aplastic anemia, and other immune system or genetic diseases.  RM