Shanghai exhibition welcomes artwork from rare disease patients, including expats

The recruitment of artworks created by rare disease patients and their families for a unique exhibition to be held later this year in Shanghai has begun.

Expatriate patients are also welcome to show their talent and share their optimism and perseverance in facing such rare diseases at the show scheduled at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Center in November.

About Rare Diseases

• Diseases with incidences lower than 1 per 10,000 are identified as rare diseases. There are more than 7,000 rare diseases worldwide.
• About 80 percent of these are inherited, affecting some 350 million people in the world and over 20 million in China.
• Nearly half of rare disease sufferers are children. About 30 percent of children with rare diseases die before the age of 5.
• Rare diseases are also responsible for 35 percent of infant deaths in children younger than 1 year old.

Call for Public Awreness

Difficulty in diagnosis, lack of medicines and high medical expenses are obstacles for most rare disease patients. The exhibition is one of the city campaigns to draw public attention to rare disease patients and their families, officials said.

At an event announcing the launch of the exhibition, Zhai Jin, a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic bone disorder causing frequent fractures, showed his paintings and encouraged more rare disease patients to face their ailment and live a positive life.

"Though I can't move like normal people, my pen can take me to any place in the world," said Zhai, who started to draw at the age of 4 and opened his cartoon designing workshop in 2019.

How to join

People who want to participate in the exhibition can call 021-25653836 for more information. Staff can offer bilingual services.