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Following is a question by the Hon Yeung Yiu-chung and a reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (May 28):
Question :
Regarding the use of Chinese medicine in preventing and treating Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ("SARS"), will the Government inform this Council :
(a) of the respective numbers of Chinese medicine prescriptions and treatment protocols for SARS received by the authorities from the people of Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas regions, and how the authorities handle these prescriptions and treatment protocols;
(b) of the details of the participation of the two Mainland Chinese medicine experts invited by the authorities to treat SARS; and the specific participation of local Chinese medicine practitioners and the Chinese medicine experts teaching and conducting researches in Hong Kong in the prevention and treatment of SARS; and
(c) whether it will use and promote Chinese medicine in the prevention of SARS; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply :
Madam President,
(a) As at May 24, 2003, we have received a total of 298 proposals related to Chinese medicine (CM) therapy for the treatment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ("SARS"), of which 188 are from Hong Kong, 92 are from the Mainland and 14 are from overseas. In addition, four proposals are transmitted by electronic mail with no indication of their source.
The Hospital Authority ("HA") has set up a CM Expert Panel on SARS Exploratory Treatment, which comprises local and Mainland experts in CM and other experts from the HA and Department of Health, to coordinate the use of CM in the treatment of SARS. All proposals on CM therapies for SARS received by Government and HA are referred to the Expert Panel for consideration.
(b) Two CM experts from the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Guangdong Province, Professor Lin Lin and Professor Yang Zhimin, arrived Hong Kong in early May to provide expert advice on the use of Chinese medicine in treating SARS patients. They have experience in using an integrated Western Medicine (WM)/Chinese Medicine (CM) approach to treat SARS patients in Guangzhou. Since arrival, they have been working closely with CM experts from the three local universities which offer Chinese medicine programmes to develop relevant clinical and research protocols using the model of WM/CM collaboration for SARS treatment. As at May 24, the two experts have conducted a total of 78 consultations for 29 patients in nine acute hospitals. They have also interviewed 37 patients in convalescence, among whom 11 have been recruited to participate in the clinical study for convalescing patients.
(c) The Chinese Medicine Expert Panel on SARS Exploratory Treatment has formulated research and treatment protocols for the prevention and treatment of SARS, which are being implemented in HA hospitals for SARS patients as appropriate. In addition to treating SARS patients, HA has arranged the use of prophylaxis Chinese medicines for its frontline staff.
End/Wednesday, May 28, 2003
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