Chinese Red Cross Foundation, major media organizations, businesses and 100 websites have jointly launched a project to help two poor brothers suffering from leukemia, a kind of blood cancer, and millions more poor children hit by the disease, Friday's China Daily reported.

The "Saving Children with leukemia" project is calling for donations from the public to help millions of poor children who suffer from the disease, according to the report.

Hu Shuzhang, 14, and Hu Shuai, 13, will be the first two benefit from the project. Born in a poor rural family in east China's Anhui Province, the elder brother was diagnosed with a highly malignant tumour in October and the younger one leukemia.

For their mother Zhang Changfeng, the burden is obviously too much for a rural family with an annual income averaging around 4,000 yuan (500 US dollars). A fund of 100,000 yuan (12,330 dollars) that came from relatives and the public has almost been used up.

"It almost killed me," the mother was quoted as saying, "especially when my younger son told me he wanted to give up medical treatment for his brother."

The two boys decided who should go to Beijing for the best treatment by drawing straws, and the younger one cheated to save his brother. He placed two "straws" both with the word "treatment" on for his older brother to choose.

His brother then headed to Beijing. He is currently being treated at Beijing's Jishuitan Hospital.

"I could never have imagined that the younger of my boys would do such a thing," the mother said. "We don't have money, but I would give up my life for his. I cannot watch him die."

However, she saw a glimmer of light, as little Hu Shuai is to become the first child to benefit from the new project by receiving free treatment.

Official figures show that there are at least 4 million leukemia patients in China, and half of them are children. "The biggest problem they face is not how to treat the disease, but where the money is going to come from," said Wang Rupeng, secretary-general of the Foundation.

According to Wang, a patient needs at least 200,000 yuan (24,700 dollars) to cure the disease. If a bone marrow transplant is required, about 400,000 yuan (50,000 dollars) will be needed.

"Obviously, most families cannot afford this," he said. "So they give up."

The project hopes to collect public donations of at least 50 million yuan (6.2 million dollars) to help 1,000 children. Each child is expected to receive aid amounting to 50,000 yuan (6,200 dollars) as planned.

Hu Shuai will arrive in Beijing this week to receive free treatment at Beijing Blood Disease Hospital of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine.

Su Fengzhe, president of the hospital, said that more than 70 per cent of lymphatic leukemia patients in China could be cured, and that type of leukemia is the most common one among children.

Source: China Daily