More than 90 per cent of children who have leukaemia on the mainland are not getting proper treatment because parents believe the disease cannot be cured, said Wu Ziliang, a specialist at the No 1 Hospital affiliated to Guangzhou Medical University.

About 15,000 children, most of them between the ages of three and seven, are diagnosed with leukaemia in China every year, reports New Express News.

The recovery rate remains at a low 10 per cent, which Wu believes has much to do with public ignorance.

Medical treatment for children with leukaemia has progressed dramatically in the last decade, making the disease one of the most curable cancers.

But many Chinese parents think of leukaemia as a "death sentence" and do not seek treatment actively, Wu said.

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