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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 13):
The DCs today (as at 5pm) provided initial assessment to 13 patients. Patients who require further assessment and treatment have been referred to the SACs. No patients were referred to the SACs for consultation today. A total of 56,518 attendances and 27,351 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, 20 appointments have already been made at the DCs.
As of today, the Hospital Authority has reported 15 cases of renal problems suspected to be related to the consumption of melamine tainted milk products. For the new case announced by the Centre for Health Protection today, the girl has been discharged and is being followed up at the specialist clinic of Princess Margaret Hospital.
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/Friday, March 13, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:52
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