Abstract

Four years ago, my little sister and I founded Chance of Life, an initiative that attempts to address congenital heart disease (CHD) in rural China, an issue that was only exacerbated by the strict pandemic lockdowns (we were living in Shanghai at the time). Our mission is to provide financial assistance for heart surgeries and raise awareness for CHD. So far, we have sponsored five children's heart surgeries!

But when our team visited Inner Mongolia to perform screenings, I realized that this issue was much more complex than it seemed on the surface. There is, in fact, a huge wealth gap that prevents access to necessary health treatments; from transportation to insurance not covering surgery, lower-income families carry many financial burdens when their child has been diagnosed with CHD. It is also for this reason that doctors in rural areas heavily recommend abortion during prenatal diagnosis of CHD, without giving the mother complete information.

Chance of Life has worked incredibly hard over the past few years to address the root issues. We have submitted the first draft of a legal proposal to the Chinese government to ensure safe and regulated hospital practices for CHD screenings, and to create a national Congenital Heart Disease Day! This year, my family moved to Boston. I have worked hard on the second draft of the legal proposal by investigating American diagnoses and treatments of CHD. I was also able to expand Chance of Life worldwide, which is so exciting to me! As of now, we have over 20 core members across five countries. The Boston chapter was recently invited to the Harvard Youth in Public Health Symposium.