DH and COSH join hands to promote acupuncture and moxibustion for smoking cessation in celebration of 75th anniversary of founding of People's Republic of China
To mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Department of Health (DH) and the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health jointly organised the Inheritance and Innovation of the Chinese Medicine Cultural Treasure - the Launch Ceremony of the Clinical Guideline of Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Smoking Cessation (Hong Kong Edition) (Guideline) today (September 20). The promulgation of the Guideline is to aim at further enabling Chinese medicine practitioners to widely adopt acupuncture and moxibustion to help patients quit smoking.
Basing on service and research data over the years as well as the latest scientific evidence, the Guideline is the joint effort of the DH, the Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Pok Oi Hospital. It covers acupuncture treatment protocols that are tailored to suit local practices and clinical tools for smoking cessation assessments and brief counseling. The Guideline will assist Chinese medicine practitioners in mastering the theoretical basis of smoking cessation by acupuncture and enable them to provide effective smoking cessation support and treatment in their daily practice to help their patients overcome tobacco addiction.
The launching ceremony was officiated by the Vice Commissioner of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM), Dr Wang Zhiyong. Dr Wang congratulated the launch of the Guideline, and commended the DH for its positive contribution to promoting tobacco control policies and implementing relevant measures. Also speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, expressed his gratitude to the NATCM for their enduring support of the DH's tobacco control endeavors, and called on the Chinese medicine community to actively promote the wide application of the Guideline.
With the support of the NATCM, the DH started to launch a smoking cessation service programme using Chinese medicine in Hong Kong in 2010. The programme aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of community-based smoking cessation services using Chinese medicine based on clinical evidence. The smoking cessation service using acupuncture and moxibustion, a collaboration between the DH and Pok Oi Hospital, has served over 17 000 smokers since its launch in 2010 and has achieved a quit rate comparable to pharmaceutical treatments.
DH and COSH join hands to promote acupuncture and moxibustion for smoking cessation in celebration of 75th anniversary of founding of People's Republic of China Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
DH and COSH join hands to promote acupuncture and moxibustion for smoking cessation in celebration of 75th anniversary of founding of People's Republic of China Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
DH and COSH join hands to promote acupuncture and moxibustion for smoking cessation in celebration of 75th anniversary of founding of People's Republic of China Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
DH and COSH join hands to promote acupuncture and moxibustion for smoking cessation in celebration of 75th anniversary of founding of People's Republic of China Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
CHP updates on latest situation of invasive Group B Streptococcus infection
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (September 20) continued its investigation into the latest situation of invasive Group B Streptococcus infection. The CHP appealed to members of the public for heightened vigilance and in particular, to pay attention when touching or handling raw freshwater fish. One should wear gloves, as well as not consume undercooked freshwater fish.
The CHP has been closely monitoring the invasive Group B Streptococcus infection cases over the past few weeks and conducted genetic sequencing analysis for patients' specimens to confirm infection number of serotype III sequence type 283 (ST283). The recent surveillance data of hospitals show that the daily number of hospitalised patients confirmed to have invasive Group B Streptococcus infection has stabilised. For ST283 cases, since theannouncements on September 13 and September 16, the CHP today confirmed 30 additional ST283 cases involving patients previously admitted to the hospitals. The patients involved 16 males and 14 females, aged between 36 and 95. The patients mainly presented with sepsis (19 patients) and joint abscess (11 patients). Together with the 40 cases of ST283 infection announced earlier, this cluster involved a cumulative total of 70 patients residing in 18 districts throughout the territory. The onset date of the disease for all 70 patients was before September 10, and 54 of them have underlying illnesses. Among the 70 patients, 19 have been discharged, 45 hospitalised patients are in stable condition, three are in serious condition and the other three with underlying illnesses have passed away.
The CHP's epidemiological investigations revealed that 58 patients have had contact with or handled raw freshwater fish before the onset of symptoms (six of them reported that they had wounds on their hands when handling raw freshwater fish). Eight patients cannot rule out that they have consumed undercooked freshwater fish (not freshwater fish sashimi), and the exposure history of the remaining four patients is under investigation.
While none of the 70 patients were fishmongers or engaged in fish culture-related jobs, two of them are cooks who have handled raw freshwater fish. As the patients resided in various districts throughout the territory, and the freshwater fishes concerned were bought from 36 markets in 16 districts respectively, the CHP considered that the affected freshwater fish may involve the wholesale level. The laboratory analysis of the environmental samples collected by the CHP earlier from the Freshwater Fish Market under the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Food Market is still in progress. So far, no abnormality has been observed by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department regarding the freshwater fish in the wholesale fish markets.
Moreover, the CHP has conducted medical surveillance on over 1 500 workers and no symptomatic worker has been identified. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Departmenthas strengthened the cleaning and disinfection of the relevant markets.
"Members of the public should wear gloves when touching or handling raw freshwater fish. If symptoms such as an inflamed wound and fever develop, they should seek medical attention promptly. Meanwhile, the public should refrain from consuming undercooked freshwater fish," a spokesman for the CHP reminded.
To prevent Group B Streptococcus (ST283) infection, members of the public are reminded to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene, and should keep their hands clean and practice good wound care at all times, especially:
To minimise the infection risks, workers of aquatic products or restaurants must wear gloves when handling aquatic products and avoid direct contact with aquatic products or dirty water with bare hands;
When buying aquatic products, the public must avoid direct contact with the aquatic products or use any towel provided by the stalls. They should wash hands with liquid soap and water as soon as possible if having contact with aquatic products which are not fully cooked. When handling aquatic products at home, the public should also wear gloves and wash hands thoroughly afterwards;
Members of the public must not eat any freshwater fish sashimi, raw or undercooked freshwater aquatic products. When consuming hot pot food or congee items which consist of aquatic products, they should ensure that the food is thoroughly cooked in which the centre of the food should reach a temperature of at least 75 degrees Celsius so as to destroy pathogen; and
People must not touch aquatic products directly whenever there is a wound on hands. If a wound is sustained during handling aquatic products, the wound must be cleaned immediately and properly covered with waterproof adhesive dressings. Individuals should seek medical advice promptly when a wound infection is found.
The public may visit the CHP'sInvasive Group B Streptococcus Infection associated with Sequence Type 283 (ST283)page for more information.
