The Asian reporter., August 06, 2018, Page Page 5, Image 5

ASIA / PACIFIC
August 6, 2018
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
World gazes at total lunar
eclipse, longest of this century
PATIENT PAYMENT PLAN. This May 2018 photo released by Su Lingmin shows her with a mask on
her hospital bed in Harbin in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province. Recently diagnosed with leukemia,
the 27-year-old native of Harbin is helping give a human face to the struggle for more affordable cancer drugs
in China. (Sun Lingmin via AP)
Chinese leukemia patient
livestreams to pay for treatment
By Yanan Wang
The Associated Press
B
EIJING — At least once a week,
Su Lingmin films herself singing,
sharing health tips, and chatting
with hundreds of fans from her hospital
bed.
“Now I’m a professional livestreamer,”
she said with a smile in a recent video.
“What else can I do?”
Diagnosed with leukemia four months
ago, the 27-year-old native of the northern
Chinese city of Harbin is helping give a
human face to the struggle for more
affordable cancer drugs in China.
That cause has been bolstered by the
popularity of a recent film, Dying to
Survive, which follows the darkly comedic
capers of a Chinese businessman-turned-
drug smuggler who saves lives by illegally
importing a leukemia drug from India,
where it costs several times less than in
China.
Inspired by a true story, the movie has
made more than $400 million since its
release in early July, winning praise from
moviegoers and critics and prompting
government action.
State news agency Xinhua reported that
several provinces have lowered drug prices
by up to 10 percent since the end of June.
Most of the drugs targeted for price
reductions are imported, like the Swiss-
developed Gleevec medication in Dying to
Survive.
Beijing previously announced in May
that cancer drugs would be exempt from
import tariffs. Chinese labs are said to be
designing equally effective drugs for a
fraction of the price, Xinhua said.
“Imported drugs are just too expensive,”
said Du Yanan of the Beijing-based Heart
to Heart foundation. Du runs a program
that matches each yuan ($0.14) that
leukemia patients spend on a form of
Gleevec that costs 10,000 yuan ($1,474) for
a single box of pills.
Commenting on the discussions sparked
by the film, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang
vowed to accelerate the process of making
cancer medication more affordable.
“At the moment when there is a single
cancer patient at home, the whole family
must pour out all its resources,” the
premier acknowledged.
Continued on page 9
Tokyo’s 1964
Olympics echo
through the city’s
2020 games
Continued from page 4
the Budokan,’” Lambiasi
said.
Architects have criti-
cized Japan’s construction
and real-estate industry for
tearing
down
older
buildings, often using
updated
earthquake
regulations as the reason to
raze and rebuild. The
Yoyogi and the Budokan
have bucked the trend.
“As an architect, it’s
painful so see so many of
these iconic buildings being
destroyed,” Lambiasi said.
“I’m so happy to know that,
rather than being torn
down, these building are
being reused.”
Celebrate
the Year
of the Dog!
February 16, 2018 to
February 4, 2019
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Curiosity
and awe greeted a complete lunar eclipse,
the longest one of this century and visible
in much of the world.
The so-called “blood moon,” when it
turns a deep red, was visible at different
times in Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe,
and South America when the sun, Earth,
and moon lined up perfectly, casting the
Earth’s shadow on the moon.
The total eclipse lasted one hour and 43
minutes, with the entire event lasting
closer to four hours.
Rio de Janeiro’s spectators cheered
when the blood moon emerged from the
fog. Hundreds of people watched at a fort
overlooking the iconic Copacabana beach
and Sugarloaf Mountain. The local
planetarium set up telescopes for
astrology fans.
“These telescopes are fantastic. It’s one
thing to see pictures of the planets in a
book and another to see it in real life,” said
Ana Selma Ferreira, a 46-year old lawyer
who brought her children to the spectacle.
Across Africa, people turned to the sky,
watching the reddish shadow slide up the
moon’s surface. In Somalia, some hurried
to mosques for special prayers. In South
EPIC ECLIPSE. A blood moon rises during a
complete lunar eclipse in Hong Kong. Curiosity and
awe greeted the complete lunar eclipse, the longest
one of this century and visible in much of the world.
(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Sudan, some dared to take photos in a
war-torn country where using a camera in
public is discouraged.
In Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa,
people at an open-air restaurant admired a
rare clear view during the rainy season,
comparing a live National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) webcast to
Continued on page 7
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