The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, the National Health Commission and related departments launched a healthcare poverty alleviation project aimed at benefiting patients suffering from ankylosing spondylitis, a chronic disease that causes inflammation around the spinal vertebrae.

Through crowdfunding, the project invites social capital to get involved in poverty alleviation. Funds raised can be used as payment for AS treatment, to ease patients' medical burdens.

As a sponsor of the project, 3SBio Inc, a Chinese producer of biopharmaceutical products, donated 180 million yuan ($25.6 million). The fund will be used to help AS patients in poverty stricken counties of Anhui, Shaanxi, Henan, Gansu and Guizhou.

According to 3SBio, through the project patients can control inflammation, reduce pain, improve physical function and significantly improve their quality of life.

Xia Gengsheng, deputy director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said the country's poverty alleviation undertaking should have a clear direction, its achievements should be consolidated and a long-term mechanism to resolve relative poverty should be established.

"Healthcare poverty alleviation requires support from all walks of life, including enterprises, non-government organizations and individuals," Xia said. "Local governments should work out plans on curing procedures and poverty alleviation procedures for patients, so as to increase their happiness and sense of gain. A stricter fund management system is needed, and the public should be better educated."

Ren Xiyue, deputy head of the Department of Finance of the National Health Commission, said: "During the process of promoting the project, we must adhere to the patient-oriented principle and implement precise treatment. Policies should be interconnected. In addition, a treatment account should be established, a system of physician accountability should be set up, and 'one-stop' settlement services should be implemented."

Data from the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development showed currently there were 4.17 million AS patients in China. Around 100,000 patients set up a poverty alleviation file, among which over 20,000 suffer from moderate to severe AS.

These patients not only suffer from disease, but also bear heavy economic burdens. Some abandoned treatment due to inability to afford medical expenses and became paralyzed, which exacerbated their poverty, the office noted.

Through the project, 832 poverty stricken counties nationwide will be covered, benefiting more than 20,000 AS patients, according to the office.