Feb 28, 2021|

JD Health Establishes Rare Diseases Care Center

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by Vivian Yang

JD Health, the healthcare subsidiary of JD.com announced to establish the Rare Diseases Care Project on Feb 27, ahead of the upcoming World Rare Disease Day which will fall on the last day of February of the year.

JD Health’s Project will first focus on the building of a Rare Disease Care Center under JD Pharmacy and the establishment of a dedicated fund for patients with rare diseases, said Lijun Xin, CEO of JD Health at the launch ceremony of the center.

Lijun Xin, CEO of JD Health at the launch ceremony of the center.

Lijun Xin, CEO of JD Health

Launch ceremony of JD Health Disease Care Center

Launch ceremony of JD Health Disease Care Center

To tackle the issue of patients’ financial burdens, JD Health cooperated with the Illness Challenges Foundation, a Beijing-based advocacy NGO for rare diseases, to set up a fund to provide charity subsidies for patients.

“Rare Diseases are not only a worldwide medical challenge, but also an economic and social conundrum”, said Enlin Jin, general manager of the medical department of JD Health. Jin highlighted four features of the fund which are comprehensiveness – covering 121 rare diseases on the government-approved list, three-tiered financial aid – depending on the expenses of each disease treatment, multi-party participation – with the combination of JD’s own fund and its charity initiative together with merchants, and a whole process online – with application, review and fund granting steps all processed on the internet.

Enlin Jin (left) and Wang Yi’ou at the signing ceremony of the Rare Diseases Care Fund

Enlin Jin (left) and Wang Yi’ou at the signing ceremony of the Rare Diseases Care Fund

Customers who purchased eligible medicines on JD Pharmacy can submit their medical documents via JD’s online platforms for the Foundation’s review. The Foundation will assess the medical treatment and expenses of each case and allocate financial aid from JD Health’s fund to the patients. Each patient can receive up to RMB 50,000 yuan a year.

Wang Yi’ou, secretary general of Beijing Illness Challenges Foundation pointed out that the “1+N” multi-level payment system for the use of rare diseases drugs which is led by the government and supplemented by contributions from the market and society, has become a widely recognized approach to alleviate rare disease patients’ payment pressure.

“JD Health’s fund for rare diseases is a significant move to explore this joint payment model in an online format, ” said Wang. Wang, 39, with a height of 140 cm (4.5 feet), is a rare disease patient herself. She suffers from osteogenesis imperfect, a condition that causes extremely fragile bones, also known as “China doll” syndrome.

JD Health will continue to strengthen collaboration with partners from all relevant fields to enhance support for patients with rare diseases in China, covering their accessibility to specific drugs, quicker diagnosis and treatment, exploration of a multi-party medical payment system, and participation in society, added Xin.

Leveraging JD’s integrated online-to-offline supply chain solutions, JD Pharmacy, the medical product-selling platform of JD Health, is one of the most comprehensive pharmaceutical products providers in China. The company’s nationwide logistics network and temperature-controlled warehousing and transportation capacity ensure medicines’ secure and timely delivery to patients across the country.

Representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Beijing Rare Diseases Treatment and Social Security Society, and pharmaceutical manufacturers including Novartis, Sanofi, Pfizer, BeiGene and CANbridge attended the center’s launch ceremony and shared their views on related issues with the audience.

Click here to read more about rare diseases in China and news about JD Health.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

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