Families of Sick Children Flock to Shanghai Hospitals | Sixth Tone
Wu Yue—Sixth Tone
While most Chinese who migrate to the coast do so to improve their economic situation, some do so solely for better medical care for sick family members, and many end up nearly bankrupting themselves in the process. Photographer Wu Yue followed six families with children afflicted with leukemia seeking treatment in Shanghai’s hospitals. She photographed and wrote about how these families faced medical bills of millions of yuan. To help their children, these parents sometimes took jobs as full-time caretakers for others, while their financial safety nets gradually disappeared.
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While most Chinese who migrate to the coast do so to improve their economic situation, some do so solely for better medical care for sick family members, and many end up nearly bankrupting themselves in the process. Photographer Wu Yue followed six families with children afflicted with leukemia seeking treatment in Shanghai’s hospitals. She photographed and wrote about how these families faced medical bills of millions of yuan. To help their children, these parents sometimes took jobs as full-time caretakers for others, while their financial safety nets gradually disappeared.