The public should be careful when taking Western medicines as they accounted for 59.4 percent of the 995 poisoning cases reported to public hospitals in the second half of last year, HK Deputy Director of Health Leung Ting-hung said on Friday.

Reviewing the causes, Leung said the most common poisoning agents were sleeping pills (31 percent), followed by pain killers (14 percent), antidepressants (12 percent) and cold and flu medication (10 percent), according to a government press release on Friday.

Another 122 or 12 percent were caused by multiple agents, including Western medicines and household products such as bleach and insecticide.

Leung said 54 percent of the cases were suicidal in nature while 20 percent were due to accidents and 9 percent related to recreational activities. Among the cases, 54 percent took place at home and 4 percent in the workplace.

He said the preventive measures include: taking the exact amount prescribed, always keeping medication in a designated cabinet with a lock, discarding all leftover or expired medicines, seeking medical consultation when feeling unwell and reading medicine labels and instructions carefully.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2006)