Thanks to three international charity foundations, medical experts from the United States and Shanghai will perform surgery on 18 orphans from Beijing and six provinces who suffer congenital deformities to their nervous systems.

A team of eight medical professionals from UCLA Medical Center in California arrived at Shanghai Children's Medical Center yesterday afternoon to perform pre-surgery examinations and discuss the procedures with their Chinese counterparts.

The surgeries will start today and run through Thursday.

The 18 orphans are aged between one month and seven years old and come from Beijing and the provinces of Henan, Guizhou, Anhui, Shanxi, Gansu and Shaanxi. They suffer neuro diseases like skull deformities, spinal defects and brain disorders.

"These children have already missed the best treating opportunity. Such surgery should be conducted soon after the child is delivered," said Dr. Bao Nan, director of Shanghai Children's Medical Center's Neurosurgery Department. "However, our surgery can renovate their condition and improve their future life quality, since such children can have many disabilities including paralysis, difficulty with the control of bowel and bladder function and mental retardation."

Doctors said some patients have already developed certain symptoms, which can worsen with time.

"The charity foundations contacted our facility to inform us about the surgery. We are happy to send the boy to Shanghai and hope the operation can change his life," said Zhang Lianjun, a teacher at the welfare institute. The operations, which would cost at least 15,000 yuan (US$1,943) each according to local doctors, were organized and sponsored by Global Neuro Rescue, Love Without Boundaries and The Shepherd's Crook Ministries.

(Shanghai Daily April 23, 2007)