Source:
https://scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2040915/doctors-bringing-hope-babies-china-born-spina-bifida
Lifestyle/ Health & Wellness

The doctors bringing hope to babies in China born with spina bifida

Hong Kong-based charity MedArt sends international experts to show doctors at China’s Suzhou Children’s Hospital how lifelong holistic treatment of condition can vastly improve quality of life

Medical experts on spina bifida (from left) Dr John Ngan, Dr David McLone, Professor Timothy Brei and Professor Wang Xiaodong at the conference in Tsim Sha Tsui in September. Photos: Edward Wong

Doctors, nurses and therapists from Hong Kong, China and the United States huddle around the bed of a three-week-old baby Chinese girl who was born with spina bifida. She has been operated on a week after birth, and the visiting medical team at Suzhou Children’s Hospital are there to discuss the best course of action for the baby.

After their examination, the doctors predict that with the right care the girl may have a 95 per cent chance of walking and finishing high school. “When the Chinese doctors heard this ... it seemed like a miracle to them,” recalls Dr John Ngan, founder of Hong Kong-based charity MedArt, and organiser of the city’s first spina bifida conference in late September. Ngan took 80 doctors to Suzhou.