There have been a large number of patients who want to buy overseas generic medicines by contacting him. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Leukemia patient Lu Yong from Wuxi, Jiangsu province, who previously obtained unapproved Indian-made cheap generic drugs for himself and 1,000 others, recently revealed to a local newspaper that he is planning to set up a charity foundation for patients who cannot afford expensive medicines.

Since his story was reported by many media organizations last year, there have been a large number of patients who want to buy overseas generic medicines by contacting him. So far, the number of patients in his WeChat contact list has reached nearly 2,000 and he receives phone calls from patients all over the country every day, according to the Jiangnan Evening News.

"I cannot help so many people alone on my own; more volunteers are needed to join in the cause," said Lu. In order to set up the foundation, he headed to Zhejiang and sought advice from charity activists and law experts.

Apart from dealing with the preparatory work for the foundation, Lu recently went to India to inquire about a specific medicine for hepatitis C patients. Since the drug cannot be sold in overseas countries, Lu suggested that patients receive treatment in India.

A few days ago, he attended a meeting on the amendment of the Administrative Law for Pharmaceutical Affairs as a patient representative in Beijing and called on law experts to help improve the regulations concerning generic drugs.