China’s health authorities jump on ‘ice bucket challenge’ charity bandwagon

The “ice bucket challenge” – a splashy worldwide charity campaign – has gotten support from China’s national health authorities, who want to raise funds for the care of patients with rare diseases.

The challenge requires a person to tip a bucket of ice water over his or her head, usually after filming a short message of support for a certain cause. The person then nominates someone else to take the challenge.

So far, many public figures, from former US president George W. Bush to Hong Kong commerce chief Greg So, have joined the initiative.

Watch: Hong Kong commerce chief Greg So takes ice bucket challenge to "thaw relations" with Ricky Wong

The National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, an amalgam of the former health ministry and family planning body, said on its microblog account on Wednesday that it sided with the "ice bucket" campaign and called on the public to donate more.

It was responding to a nomination by CCTV presenter Zhang Quanling, who poured ice water over her head then invited her broadcasting company, the entertainment programme host He Jiong, as well as the health commission to take part.