Cross-Straits Direct Flight Urged to Save Taiwanese Girl

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, January 12, 2003

Cross-Straits Direct Flight Urged to Save Taiwanese Girl

A "humanitarian direct flight" across the Taiwan Straits needed for a heart transplant operation to save the life of a seriously ill Taiwanese girl is being urged by many people.

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A "humanitarian direct flight" across the Taiwan Straits needed for a heart transplant operation to save the life of a seriously ill Taiwanese girl is being urged by many people.

Taiwan authorities' resistance to across-Straits direct flight forces all flights between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland to fly via Hong Kong or Macao.

But a donor's heart cannot survive more than four hours after removal, and the seriously ill girl could not stand a long flight from Taiwan to Shanghai, where world-class doctors and facilities make most such operations successful, said Wang Chunsheng, a doctor at Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital.

The Taipei-based hospital treating the girl and the newspaper, the Shanghai Overseas Chinese News jointly issued an appeal for help, which was widely echoed in leading mainland media and websites, such as in Beijing, Xi'an, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.

Whether the Taiwanese authorities permit a "humanitarian flight" is yet to be seen. Recently an agreement was reached between the two sides to allow Taiwanese airlines to operate charter flights during the upcoming Chinese lunar new year holiday, but they will still be subject to stops in Hong Kong or Macao.

The 11-year-old girl was diagnosed one year ago with the same heart disease as her two elder brothers, one of whom died for the lack of a suitable donor. The other survived after a successful heart transplant from a clinically dead patient, the parents said.

The girl needs an O blood-type heart from somebody whose age isat best younger than 50 and whose weight is below 50 kilograms, according to the Taipei-based hospital.

There are 6,000 patients in Taiwan waiting for organ transplants, but only hundreds of people have become eligible organ donors.

On the mainland, organ transplant operations have been as successful as the most advanced international levels, and the large population allows for more possible donors, doctors here said. Statistics show that 82 heart transplants have been conducted on the mainland and one patient has lived as long as eight years.

The Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital operated recently on six heart disease patients, all successful, and the youngest heart recipient was only 12 years old. The hospital said it did one such operation per month because of the steady supply of donors.

The seriously ill girl has suffered kidney dysfunction, disordering normal urination and resulting in oedema in the face, belly and legs.

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