PEOPLE wondering what to take for a cold and patients who are confused about their medication, can now call a special hotline for detailed information.
Explaining the new hotline yesterday assistant director of the Health Department (personal health services), Dr Chan Wai-man said: 'Proper use of medicine is an important issue in medical procedure. A lot of people don't understand what medicines are, or the side effects and the importance of compliance with the directions for taking them.' The hotline provides details and advice on 11 of the most commonly used medicines in Hong Kong, including preparations for the common cold and influenza, antibiotics, laxatives and anti-diarrhoeals and drugs for angina and asthma.
Dr Chan said the labelling of drugs was already compulsory and that if patients received medicines which were not labelled they needed to alert the Health Department.
The Chief Pharmacist, Anthony Chan Wing-kin, said the new telephone hotline was 'a great step forward in the area of patient education'.
However, he said pharmacists would continue to provide advice and assistance to people who were confused about their medication requirements.
The hotline number is 2836-3880.
