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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
Regarding the services of the Designated Clinics (DCs) and the Special Assessment Centres (SACs), a Hospital Authority spokesperson provided the following updates today (March 9):
The DCs today (as at 5pm) and last Saturday morning (March 7) provided initial assessment to a total of 34 patients. Patients who require further assessment and treatment have been referred to the SACs. The assessment centres attended to 10 patients in the two days. A total of 56,474 attendances and 27,342 assessments have been reported at the DCs and SACs respectively since they began operations on September 23, 2008.
In view of the decreasing demand for the screening service, the Hospital Authority has decided that the free health screening service in the 18 DCs will be in operation until March 31, while the free SAC service will remain in operation until April 9 or when all referral from the DCs have been provided with further assessment service.
In the coming three days, six appointments have already been made at the DCs.
As of today, the Hospital Authority has reported 14 cases of renal problems suspected to be related to the consumption of melamine tainted milk products.
The Hospital Authority said the free screening service was a contingency arrangement with its prime focus on local children who had an "eligible person" status. Other patients will be referred to private healthcare providers to reserve adequate capacity for locals.
Ends/Monday, March 9, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:46
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