Well here’s something I bet you haven’t seen before: a community cancer support website that promises not moral support but financial support. That’s exactly what Anti-Cancer Commune (抗癌公社) is going for here in China. This startup is very new — it launched just this month — but it has already gotten a little bit of media attention domestically thanks to its unique approach to cancer.
Basically, the site works like this: anyone under 45 can join. It takes a while to become an official member, but once you are one, you’re obliged to support other members with small (no more than 10 RMB, or $1.58) if they are diagnosed with cancer. However, once you’ve donated 3,000 RMB in total your obligation to keep donating ends, and since the donations are individually tiny and likely spread over decades, it’s not going to be a big financial burden on most people to participate.
Similarly, if you’re a member and you get cancer, you can expect donations from the site’s other members coming your way, although the total sum you can receive will not exceed 300,000 RMB ($47,619). Obviously, if you have cancer yourself, you’re also no longer obligated to make micro-donations to other members who are diagnosed. And of course, there are plenty of checks in place to assure that those who claim it really do have cancer.
It’s an interesting model, albeit an untested one, and one that seems fraught with potential pitfalls. Founder Zhang Mading has got a long road ahead of him if he wants to avoid them; and of course, building a big enough community to ensure meaningful support when someone actually does get cancer is going to take time. Based on the site’s BBS forum, it seems Zhang hasn’t attracted much attention yet, and lots of people still have questions about the model. Trusting strangers to support you could be a tough sell in China — and the site itself points out this is not a replacement for health insurance.
Another potential pitfall is that rising cancer rates caused by China’s environmental problems could lead to a higher number of members getting cancer than perhaps Zhang has bargained for. On the other hand, China’s increasing cancer rates and the high cost of cancer treatments will mean that people are looking for support, and Anti-Cancer Commune will be poised to offer it so long as people have the foresight to join the site before they’re diagnosed.
Can this mutual-support micro-donation approach really help support cancer patients? We’ll have to wait and see, but personally, I’m hoping Zhang and his team are in this for the long haul and truly help families deal with the immense financial burden that comes with a cancer diagnosis. Perhaps in the future the team can also make additions to the model so that the Anti-Cancer Commune can provide some emotional support, too.
Something tells me that it will. Founder Zhang’s personal story — his mother died of cancer; his family was too poor to afford the best treatment for her — indicates that this is something he is truly passionate about, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about startup success, it’s that real passion is an absolute necessity.
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