With $50m left for 516 people, cash could dry up in two years
Recovered Sars patients who are still suffering physical and psychological problems are exhausting a government fund set aside to pay for their expenses.
The Trust Fund for Sars has just $50 million left for the 516 former patients who qualify for assistance. Another large part of the original $150 million fund went towards one-off payments to families who lost relatives to the disease.
With expenditure of $1.65 million a month, the fund could dry up within two years.
'We've got to look at the figures very carefully,' said fund committee chairman David Fang Jin-sheng. 'We have to reassess the situation in six months.'
The fund was set up in November after the Legislative Council approved $150 million to compensate the families of Sars victims and former patients suffering long-term side effects from their treatment.
Dr Fang said the committee would go to the Finance Committee and request more money before the fund was depleted.
