China has launched assistance programs targeting 120 million chronic kidney disease patients across the country and more than 3 million uremia patients worldwide, with the aim of increasing patient dignity and quality of life.

Themed "Love Life and Embrace Living", Friday's "919 Uremia Care Day" public welfare event — hosted by Xinhua News Network and co-organized by Jafron Biomedical Co Ltd — promoted the core goals of "chronic disease prevention" and "universal health coverage" as outlined in the Healthy China 2030 strategy.

Organizers said the event not only promoted the implementation of national uremia medical insurance policies — uremia was included in medical insurance in 2011, benefiting more than one million dialysis patients — but also represented a vital step toward transitioning patients from simply "having access to treatment and insurance" to "living with quality and dignity".

Jafron Group, in partnership with the China Population Welfare Foundation and the Zhuhai Jafron Sunshine Medical Foundation, has launched three concrete public welfare projects — donating a total of 20 million yuan ($2.81 million) in cash and materials. The company says this is a demonstration of its patient-centered philosophy and its commitment to the ethos behind "919 Uremia Care Day".

Professor Claudio Ronco, founder and president of the International Renal Research Institute of Vicenza in Italy, praised the initiative via video link, emphasizing the importance of raising awareness about kidney disease, prevention and care.

Ronco highlighted the need to maintain patients' quality of life during dialysis treatment and to avoid complications through advanced extracorporeal therapies that remove specific toxic molecules.

Dong Fan, founder and chairman of Jafron Group, said he hoped that "919 Uremia Care Day" would not only serve as a starting point for a societal focus on uremia, but also become a day when patients experience warmth and support so that they not only "survive" but "live well".

Dong said that, over the past 23 years, Jafron has focused on developing and promoting hemoperfusion devices, with its products being employed in over 8,000 hospitals across more than 90 countries and regions.

"By establishing Sept 19 as 'Uremia Care Day', we hope to inspire society to not only help extend the lifelines of uremia patients, but also add color to their lives," he added.

Friday's event opened with a short film documenting the lives of uremia patients, who shared their journeys of battling the disease, emphasizing that "medical treatment sustains life, but love for life is the true driving force".

Yang Zhiyuan, vice-chair of the China Population Welfare Foundation, emphasized that assistance programs for uremia patients undergoing combined artificial kidney treatments can help reduce the financial burden of seeking medical care.

In the second half of the event — titled "Navigation Program" — there were keynote speeches and round-table discussions.

Professor Ding Xiaoqiang from Fudan University's Zhongshan Hospital noted that, while hemodialysis offers hope for survival, hemoperfusion effectively removes medium and large molecular toxins and protein-bound toxins, significantly alleviating complications such as itching and sleep disorders, enabling patients to "live with quality".

During the first round-table, experts discussed the importance of standardized hemoperfusion treatment, while in the second round-table, experts explored the impact of new medical insurance billing policies.

Professor Liu Gang from Shandong University's Qilu Hospital said that the new policy enables standardized billing and encourages individualized treatment based on patient needs, improving both medical quality and patient outcomes.

Organizers said they hoped the public welfare event brought new hope to uremia patients and created a platform for society to support uremia prevention and treatment, helping realize a vision to "love life and embrace living". More societal forces must be coordinated to contribute to the health and happiness of uremia patients, they added.

Please contact the writer at yinmingyue@chinadaily.com.cn