Dear Doctor,

Re:  Programme Forms for Tuberculosis Patients

Tuberculosis is still an important world-wide public health problem nowadays.  The tracking of TB patients and ensuring their completion of anti-TB treatment is crucial for the success of national TB control programmes.  The World Health Organization has recommended that an evaluation and monitoring programme should be in place for all TB patients in the individual countries.

As the majority of TB patients in Hong Kong are being managed in the chest clinics of the Department of Health, such evaluation process has already been put in place for recent few years in the chest clinics using a set of Programme Forms.  During the recent meeting of the Joint Tuberculosis Control Coordinating Committee Meeting (JTBCC meeting, i.e., the conjoint meeting of the TB Control Coordinating Committee of the Department of Health and the TB & Chest Subcommittee of the Coordinating Committee in Internal Medicine of the Hospital Authority), members have recommended to extend the use of a modified set of such forms for other TB patients managed in various health care sectors in Hong Kong.

The Programme Forms will collect the baseline clinical information as well as the progress and treatment outcomes of the TB patients.  A set of the sample of the Programme Forms can be downloaded from the website of TB & Chest Service, Department of Health.  The set consists of the following forms:

(a) PFA - to be completed at around DOS (date of starting anti-TB treatment)
(b) PFB1 and PFB2 - to be completed at 6 month from DOS
(c) PFC - to be completed at 12 month from DOS
(d) PFD - to be completed at 24 month from DOS

The forms, soon after completion at the scheduled time, should be sent to the following:
        Consultant Chest Physician i/c
        Wanchai Chest Clinic, 99 Kennedy Road, Hong Kong
        Fax: (852) 28346627
A copy of the completed forms should also be filed in the medical record of the patient, and a copy should be sent to the new source of care when the patient is referred or transferred.

We plan to use the forms for all the TB patients in Hong Kong with their DOS (date of starting treatment) from 1 January 2001 onwards.  We would be most grateful for your cooperation in this surveillance programme. Hence, for every patient with a fresh episode of TB, the case should be notified to the Department of Health, using the notification form DH 1A(s) (Rev. Jul 2008), together with a completed PFA.  (The other forms PFB1, PFB2, PFC, and PFD should be completed at the scheduled time by the source of care at that particular time.  We may issue remind letters to the last known source of care if necessary.)

Please feel free to contact the undersigned for clarification if there are any problems.  Your cooperation in this matter is very much appreciated and will be beneficial for the control of TB in Hong Kong.

Many thanks.

Yours sincerely,
 
 

Dr. CM Tam
Consultant Chest Physician i/c
(TB & Chest Service, Department of Health)