The Health Bureau is to launch a surgical treatment programme for people living with Parkinson’s disease. It estimates that there are around 1,300 people in Macao with the condition, TDM reports.
The broadcaster says the bureau will seek help from health authorities in other Greater Bay Area municipalities that have experience in running such programmes.
According to an official statement cited in local media, the programme will be established at the public Centro Hospitalar Conde de São Januário this year.
The statement was released in advance of World Parkinson’s Day, which falls today.
[See more: How Macao can better support dementia patients and their caretakers as cases rise]
One of the treatments to be offered under the new programme will be deep brain electrical stimulation. Patients requiring this treatment currently have to travel outside of Macao to get it.
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after dementia. Age is the largest risk factor in the onset and progress of the disease, which currently has no cure.
According to the latest figures, people over 65 represent more than 13 percent of the population of Macao.
