PDF《慈惠 月报》

It'

s costly to buy meals (not easy to maintain

3 daily meals);

it is even more costly to buy medications.

I'

d rather skip my meals and use that money to buy medications. Those were the remarks by applicants when St. James'

Settlement introduced the '

Medication Subsidy Program'

. The applicants disclosedtheirhelplessnessbynarratinghowtheymanagedtobuyprescribed user-pay medications so as to control chronic illnesses from deteriorating. The '

Medication Subsidy Program'

subsidises chronic patients to buy user-pay medications for treatment. Those patients can'

t work because of their illnesses. They are the under-privileged of our society and they survive on their meagre savings or CCSA. The Program operates on donations. The doctors prescribe user-pay medications because they bring better curing results, minimise discomfort, side-effects and aftermath in the process. The prescriptions are appropriate. However, they become problematic because the patients have to use their own money to buy them. In order to stay alive, they save money for medications by skipping their meals. One applicant said, I go to the market at the close of business to collect whatever vegetables the stall-keepers throw away. I take them home and cook the ones that are edible. I eat meat and eggs once a week and I have only one meal a day. I can just eat half a bowl of rice each time. I'

ve not eaten breakfast for a long time. An applicant, who looks pale and thin, continued, '

Since I take medications much more frequent than meals, when I feel hungry, I comfort myself by saying '

I'

ve just eaten (medications) and why do I feel hungry?'

Other applicants do house work, drink water or lie in bed (so as to avoid feeling hungry caused by wasting their energy.) Their helplessness is truly pitiful. And it happens all because they have to save their money for medications. What those patients do is unwise. They will not be physically strong to fight illnesses as a result of deficient nutrition. If they refuse to buy user-pay medications and keep on using the old ones, they will experience a series of discomfort and side-effects. Old medications produce less satisfactory curing results than the user-pay ones. Their choice reflects their plight. The question is: if they buy user-pay medications, how long will their money last them? Some of the user-pay medications may cost several hundred dollars or over one thousand. If kind-hearted people of Hong Kong give them a helping hand, those chronic patients will be able to afford both medications and food at the same time. Please donate to our Medication Subsidy Program. For enquiries, call 2835-4321 or 8107-8324. Social Worker'

s Remark 社工的话 Medications - more costly than meals 「买饭难(每日三餐难继),买药更难.为了生存,我宁愿 不吃饭,捱饿,也要用钱来买药吃.」以上的话,是我们於推 行「赠药治病计划」时,申请者对我们诉说他们在贫拙的生活 中,如何处理购买医生处方的自费药物,以能可控制顽疾恶化 的无奈. 「赠药治病计划」乃我们基於弱势社群,如因长期病患失 去工作能力,仅赖有限积蓄或综援为生的人士,在善长的施助 下,为他们提供金钱上的资助,俾可有能力购买自费药物以治 病;

病者的主诊医生为他们作出处方自费药物,是要令他们可 有更佳的治病效果、减少在治疗过程中的不适及副作用,以及 后遗症等.医生作出处方是正确的,唯若病人有经济问题时, 此「病者自负」的「自掏腰包」购买药物方式,确是令病者为 难;