WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1979
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NEW MEASURES TO FIGHT TB
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SHORT-COURSE CHEMOTHERAPY, A NEW TREATMENT REGIME FOR TUBERCULOSIS ADOPTED BY THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT SINCE MARCH THIS YEAR, HAS PROVED TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE.
+RESPONSE FROM PATIENTS TO THIS SHORT, EFFECTIVE AND FREE TREATMENT HAS BEEN MOST ENCOURAGING,+ ́ ́A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY.
DURING THE FIRST EIGHT MONTHS UP TO OCTOBER, MORE THAN 3 000 PATIENTS WERE PUT ON THIS TREATMENT COURSE WHICH CONSISTED OF SEVERAL DRUGS TAKEN TOGETHER OVER A PERIOD OF FOUR TO SIX MONTHS, HE SAID.
+MANY HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED THE COURSE AND ARE FREE FROM THE DISEASE WHICH NORMALLY TAKES BETWEEN A YEAR AND 18 MONTHS TO CURE,+ HE ADDED.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID THE DROP-OUT RATE FOR THE CHEMOTHERAPY TREATMENT WAS ONLY TWO PER CENT, WHICH WAS CONSIDERED TO BE VERY LOW FOR TREATMENT OF THIS NATURE.
APART FROM RENDERING MEDICAL TREATMENT TO THE PATIENTS, THE DEPARTMENT ALSO PROVIDES MEDICAL SOCIAL WORKERS TO GIVE FINANCIAL OR OTHER SUPPORT TO THOSE IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN RUNNING A MASSIVE TB CASE-FINDING CAMPAIGN TO PERSUADE PEOPLE WITH PERSISTENT COUGH FOR MORE THAN FOUR WEEKS TO GO TO THE CHEST CLINICS FOR A CHECK-UP.
THE MAIN PURPOSE, SAID THE SPOKESMAN, WAS TO DETECT THE MANY +HIDDEN+ CASES IN THE COMMUNITY AND TO CURE THEM.
AS A RESULT OF THE CAMPAIGN, THE CHEST SERVICE DETECTED A TOTAL OF 5 443 CASES OF TUBERCULOSIS DURING THE EIGHT MONTHS BETWEEN MARCH AND OCTOBER, 20 PER CENT MORE THAN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.
HEALTH STAFF FROM THE CHEST SERVICE ALSO TRACED THE CONTACTS OF TB PATIENTS AND ADMINISTERED TREATMENT TO THOSE FOUND TO BE INFECTED.
THE SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT ALTHOUGH THE INCIDENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS HAD DROPPED SUBSTANTIALLY OVER THE DECADE,
IT WAS STILL ONE OF THE MAJOR DISEASES IN HONG KONG AND ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD.
SOME 400 PEOPLE DIED FROM THE DISEASE WHILE SOME 6 600 FRESH CASES WERE REPORTED IN HONG KONG LAST YEAR, HE SAID.
+THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF HIDDEN CASES IN THE COMMUNITY, AND MUCH REMAINS TO BE DONE BEFORE THE DISEASE CAN BE ERADICATED,+ HE ADDED.
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