Public urged to work together to fight against tuberculosis (with photos)
*************************************************************************
To tie in with World TB Day 2018, the DH, the Hospital Authority (HA) and the Hong Kong Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Diseases Association today (March 24) jointly launched a publicity activity to raise awareness on TB. A health exhibition with educational activities is being staged at a shopping mall in Diamond Hill today and tomorrow (March 25) to promote messages on the prevention of TB to the public.
The Under Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Chui Tak-yi, at the opening ceremony said that although the local TB rate has seen a continuous decline in recent years, it is still higher than the rates in some European and American countries and regions. He urged members of the public to work together to combat TB.
Dr Chui said, "With improvements in the living environment, medical advances and the enhanced awareness of public health by the general public, Hong Kong has made significant progress in the prevention and control of TB. The notification rate of TB is currently around 60 cases per 100 000 people in the population, representing a sharp 90 per cent reduction as compared with the figures in the 1950s and 1960s.
He noted that while the chest clinics under the DH's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) provide TB patients with free outpatient consultation and treatment, the HA provides inpatient and special investigation services for these patients. In recent years, the DH and the HA laboratories have efficiently reduced the time in making diagnoses and provided better support to front-line doctors by adopting molecular technology in quick testing. Moreover, the DH has also actively collaborated in research with local and overseas organisations in order to improve the chances of being cured, shorten the treatment time and achieve a breakthrough in TB prevention.
Also addressing the ceremony, the Controller of the CHP, Dr Wong Ka-hing, said, "Although the notification rate of TB has continued to decline and the number of multidrug-resistant TB cases has been maintained at a low level, our TB prevention work still faces challenges posed by factors including the busy population movement among neighbouring areas with high TB burden, the ageing population and the increasing number of patients with chronic illness in Hong Kong."
Dr Wong reminded the public that the treatment of TB involves a prescription of multiple medicines which lasts for at least six months, and TB patients should stringently take the medication on time to minimise the emergence of drug-resistant TB. The CHP is committed to adopting the Directly Observed Treatment method promulgated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide assistance to patients and ensure that they complete the whole treatment course.
"In recent years, the CHP has proactively introduced new TB drugs to provide more effective treatment for TB patients. We have also stepped up enforcement actions by applying provisions under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap. 599). Actions such as medical surveillance, issuing of medical examination notices or other mandatory measures will be adopted as and when necessary with a view to strengthening the prevention and control of TB in various aspects," he added.
The WHO has designated March 24 of each year as World TB Day to encourage global efforts to combat TB together. According to the WHO's estimates, 10.4 million new TB cases were reported globally in 2016, and 1.7 million died from the disease.
Other officiating guests today included the Chairman of the Hong Kong Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Diseases Association, Mr Steve Lan, and the HA Director (Quality and Safety), Dr Chung Kin-lai.
For more TB-related information, services and figures, the public may visit the CHP's page on World TB Day (www.info.gov.hk/tb_chest/worldtbday.htm) and the website of the Tuberculosis and Chest Service (www.info.gov.hk/tb_chest), call the telephone hotline (2572 6024) or browse the WHO's TB page (www.who.int/tb).
Ends/Saturday, March 24, 2018
Issued at HKT 15:19
Issued at HKT 15:19
NNNN
Photo
