媒体聚焦 | Chinese agencies offer overseas medical treatment

For the first time since her daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy nine years ago, Yang Lei, from Inner Mongolia, had a clear understanding of the girl’s radiology results after they were carefully explained to her by Japanese doctor.

来自内蒙古的杨蕾九年前女儿被确诊患有癫痫。在听到日本医生耐心的解释后她第一次明白了孩子接受放疗的结果。

The scenario is in contrast to her numerous visits to mainland hospitals, including some of the country’s best in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Yang sometimes booked VIP consultations, but still the doctors spent just a few minutes with her.

这与她曾经求诊的无数中国大陆医院形成鲜明的对比，其中包括北京、上海、广州最有名的医院。即便她有时挂的是专家号，医生也只会接待她短短几分钟。

“Following years of treatment, my daughter still suffered several minor seizures a day which meant she can’t take care of herself,” Yang said. “The mainland’s elite doctors told us that there was no further treatment to improve her condition.”

“经过这么多年的治疗，我女儿还是有时一天会发病多次，她还没法生活自理。”杨蕾说道。“大陆的专家们都说已经没有办法改善我孩子的现状了。”

At the beginning of this year, however, she discovered that epilepsy treatment was more advanced in Japan and the United States, which rekindled her hope. Through the help of a medical services agency, Yang made an appointment for her nine-year-old daughter at the National Centre of Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo in mid-May.

然而今年年初，她查到日本和美国的癫痫治疗水平更先进，这给了她希望。在一家医疗服务中介的帮助下，杨蕾成功为9岁的女儿在东京的日本国立精神·神经研究中心预约到了5月份的一次诊断。

The girl had a thorough examination and was prescribed drugs. The family will return to Japan in mid-June to see if she qualifies for surgery.

医院给孩子进行了详细的检查，并开具处方药物。杨蕾一家将会在6月中旬回国，进一步观察判断孩子是否能接受手术。

As the mainland becomes more affluent and has more contact with the outside world, more people like Yang are heading abroad for better medical treatment.

随着中国大陆人们生活水平的提高，与国外的交流更为频繁，越来越多的人们就像杨蕾一样出国寻求更好的医疗服务。

One area of high demand has been among cancer patients. According to the National Cancer Prevention and Research Centre in Beijing, the five-year survival rate of Chinese patients is 30 per cent, half that of patients in the US.

对这一服务的需求很大一部分来自癌症患者。北京的国家癌症预防和研究中心的数据显示，中国癌症患者的5年存活率是30%，是美国的一半。

This had been a boon to agents who introduced mainland patients to foreign hospitals and clinics, said Wang Gang, president of the Hope Noah Company in Beijing.

“这对介绍大陆患者到国外医院和诊所就医的中介来说是一大机遇。”位于北京的厚朴方舟总裁王刚如是说。

The company’s business has grown by half annually in the past few years, and in April they signed contracts with nearly 60 new clients.

该公司业务在过去几年呈每半年即大幅增长的态势。四月份新增客户量接近60人。

The company charges 98,000 yuan (HK$124,000) for its first week of service which includes booking appointments with overseas hospitals, translating medical records, applying for visas, arranging airport pickups, providing accommodation and accompanying patients. They charge 30,000 yuan per week thereafter.

公司收费标准是第一周98,000人民币(124,000港元)，提供的服务包括预约海外医院，翻译患者病历，申请签证，安排接送机，提供住宿和生活陪同。之后每周费用增加30，000人民币。

Most of Hope Noah’s clients are seeking treatment for serious conditions such as cancer or heart disease. But other patients were heading offshore for advanced pharmaceuticals that were still a decade away from approval for sale in China due to government red tape.

公司的大部分客户都是寻求重大疾病的治疗，例如癌症和心脏疾病。但也有些患者是为获得先进药物出国。。

“A lot of my clients with hepatitis C go to the US to get orally administered drugs that are believed to offer a 90 per cent chance of a cure. Chinese doctors still rely on the traditional method involving interferons [which have multiple side-effects],” he said.

“我公司的许多丙肝患者去美国寻求治愈率能达到90%的口服药。中国医生依靠的仍是传统的疗法，包括干扰素(有很多副作用)。” 他说道。

Other drawcards were a more “humane” level of service and tailored medical treatments, in contrast to China’s cramped hospitals and overworked medical staff.

另一优势是海外医院能提供更人性化的服务和个性化的治疗方案，而非中国拥挤的医院和超负荷工作的医护人员。

Yang said the Japanese hospital left her with a good impression. “Doctors and nurses there really care for us and I think they deeply hope my girl can recover.”

杨蕾说日本医院给她留下了很好的印象：“医生和护士真的在乎我们，让我觉得他们真诚希望我的孩子能康复。”

She said the cost there was not that much more than at home. One radiology test cost about 30,000 yuan in Japan, on par with one her daughter took at a major hospital in Guangzhou.

她说费用并没有比在国内看病贵很多。一次放疗30，000日元，与她在国内广州大医院的费用差不多。

Competition within the sector was fierce, with dozens of newcomers emerging in recent years, especially fuelled by capital markets that sensed the growth potential of the industry.

近年来有很多人进入海外医疗服务这一领域，竞争很激烈，尤其是资本市场的助力更显示出这个产业的潜力。

Mass General had about 100 Chinese patients last year, 10 times as many as in 2011, the Boston Globe quoted Dr Andrew Warshaw, former chief of surgery who heads international and regional clinical relations for the hospital, as saying.

波士顿环球报引用曾负责国际和地区临床关系的前外科主任Andrew Warshaw的话：去年麻省总医院接待了约100名中国患者，是2011年的10倍。

But the industry is not without risk. CCTV reported that a domestic agency charged one Shandong patient with eye problems 600,000 yuan for translating his medical records and contacting an American hospital. The agency later told him to remit 10 million yuan for “treatment bills”, saying the hospital said the illness could be completely cured. The man realised it was a con and didn’t pay the second instalment.

但这一产业也并非没有风险。中央电视台曾报道一家国内中介向一位山东眼疾患者收费六十万人民币，用于翻译病历和联系美国医院。之后又要求患者汇款一千万人民币做“治疗费用”，并称缴费后能帮其完全治愈。患者这才意识到是骗局，没有再次汇款。

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