Generate an explanation for the given claim using the provided supporting material from the paragraph. Please consider the following points while generating an output. 1) The claim will always have supporting proof in the paragraph, and the paragraph will have a clear point of view supporting the claim. 2) There can be instances where direct correlation to the claim is not available. Make use of the sentences in the paragraph to provide a corresponding output supporting the claim. 3) The explanation should be at least one and at most twelve sentences long.
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Question: Paragraph: The article states that acupuncture costs $45 to $100 per session. It does not say how this compares to other treatments and whether the cost of care is the same, more or less than alternatives. The story states the proportion of patients who successfully responded to each therapy, and clearly explains that “real” acupuncture was no better than sham needling. But it does not define success or otherwise quantify how much people improved clinically in either relative or absolute terms. For a treatment to be considered successful, a patient must have reported either a 33% improvement in pain or as little as a 12% improvement in function during an interview conducted over the telephone 6 months after enrollment. Nonethless we’ll grade this criterion as satisfactory. The story did not mention harms from any of the treatments patients received. Previous research suggests that acupuncture poses few risks when performed with sterile, disposable needles. The article describes the largest randomized controlled trial to date investigating the effectiveness of acupuncture for treating chronic low back pain, and reports its published results. It discusses the three treatment groups studied and potential reasons for the outcomes observed. There are no obvious elements of disease mongering. The story explains that the study participants were people with chronic low back pain. These results wouldn’t apply to other back pain conditions. The article cites one of the study’s coauthors and two physicians who appear to be users and/or proponents of complementary therapies. It would have been interesting to hear from a skeptical observer. The story lists the therapies received by patients assigned to the conventional medicine group. The literature suggests that these treatments generally provide very modest benefits. The article does not mention other therapies that may be effective for managing chronic pain and improving flexibility and strength. These include cognitive therapy alone or in combination with intensive exercise and strengthening. Acupuncture is estimated to be the third most popular complementary therapy for chronic low back pain. Though the article does not say much about its availability, readers are likely to be familiar with it. The story notes that this is the largest study yet of acupuncture for chronic back pain, suggesting that the treatment is not new. There is no obvious use of text from a press release. Claim: Acupuncture, real or fake, called best for lower back pain

Answer: This article reports on the largest randomized controlled trial to date investigating the effectiveness of acupuncture for treating chronic low back pain. It explains that both acupuncture and sham needling are more effective than conventional medical therapies, but that “fake acupuncture works nearly as well as the real thing.”       In addition to describing the quality of the evidence, the story mentions several other treatment options, tells the reader the cost of acupuncture, and hints at its novelty. The story neglects to mention harms. (A recent systematic review reinforces the study’s finding that acupuncture poses few risks; see Spine 2005;30:944-63). And it also provides an incomplete picture of the treatment’s apparent benefits. Although it notes the proportion of patients who improved with each therapy, it does not define success or otherwise quantify how much people improved clinically–in either relative or absolute terms. For a treatment to be considered successful, for example, a patient could have reported as little as a 12% improvement in function during an interview conducted over the telephone 6 months after enrollment. This is important information if people are to weigh the apparent benefit of a therapy against its cost. The article cites one of the study’s coauthors and two physicians who appear to be users and/or proponents of complementary therapies. They attempt to explain why needling seems to work. To provide some balance, the study’s coauthor suggests that the apparent benefit could merely be the result of patients’ expectations of improvement from acupuncture, on the one hand, and of poor results from conventional medicine on the other. (Unfortunately, the researchers did not measure patients’ expectations.) It would have been interesting to hear from others. Some might point out that the new study shows that acupuncture and sham needling are only more effective than treatments that are not themselves very effective. Others might make the case that acupuncture provides no specific treatment effect and is unethical to use—because it could be construed as prescribing a placebo. People with chronic low back pain are desperate for anything that will help. When a large new study provides apparently strong evidence to buttress a therapy that previously had little high-quality evidence to support it, readers might also benefit from more context. A major systematic review that analyzed 35 randomized trials involving 2861 patients recently concluded that acupuncture appears to confer modest, short-term pain relief, but that the quality of the studies was not very good. The reviewers were careful not to overstate the benefits of acupuncture (Spine 2005;30:944-63). Overall, this was a good article that would have been helped by some more context.


Question: Paragraph: The airline had earlier said only cabin crew operating mainland China flights could wear masks, in response to the airline’s flight attendants calling for permission to wear masks on all flights globally as cases have also been confirmed in the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. “Due to the evolving information from health authorities, we will allow crew members and frontline airport employees to wear surgical face masks when on duty at their discretion,” Cathay said in a statement. The coronavirus outbreak, which began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, struck as millions of Chinese prepared to travel for the Lunar New Year, heightening contagion risks. Wuhan’s local government said it would close all urban transport networks and suspend outgoing flights from the city as of 10 a.m. on Thursday (0200 GMT), state media reported, adding that the government said citizens should not leave the city unless there were special circumstances. The Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union said on Tuesday it had received a “tremendous” amount of emails and messages from members concerned over catching the virus given they are exposed to over 300 passengers from numerous places on a single flight. On Wednesday evening, Cathay said on its website that rebooking, rerouting and refund charges would be waived for all tickets booked on or before Jan. 21, arriving to or departing from Wuhan through March 31, an extension from the Feb. 15 date listed the prior evening. Deaths from China’s new flu-like virus rose to 17 on Wednesday, with more than 540 cases confirmed. The virus has already spread beyond Wuhan to population centers including Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong. Cathay said that as required by the Hong Kong health authorities, it was distributing health declaration forms and will be making face masks and antiseptic wipes available at the boarding gate to passengers traveling from Wuhan to Hong Kong. “Our frontline staff are reminded to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene, and to remain alert and vigilant while being on the lookout for passengers presenting with infectious disease symptoms,” the airline said. Cathay has already been hit by plummeting demand as a result of anti-government protests in Hong Kong, leading it to cut capacity and defer the delivery of four planes. Shares in Cathay have fallen by 10% since the start of January as the virus spread. Jefferies analysts said shares in Cathay and mainland Chinese carriers could remain under pressure for some time if the coronavirus situation paralleled the 2003 SARS outbreak and cases continued to increase. That coronavirus outbreak killed nearly 800 people. Claim: Cathay to let crew wear masks on all flights due to new coronavirus.

Answer: Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (0293.HK) will allow all crew members and frontline employees to wear surgical masks due to concerns over a new coronavirus, and said passengers to and from Wuhan, China, could change or cancel flights for free through March 31.


Question: Paragraph: But a growing number of Europeans are travelling abroad for medical treatment to save money, or maybe to combine a visit to the doctor with some sightseeing, creating a fast-growing market that is still largely untapped by traditional tour operators. “It was simply cheaper for me to go to a dentist in Hungary,” said a 42-year-old physical therapist from Berlin, who did not want to give his name. He chose the clinic near Budapest from an Internet advertisement, enticed by hundreds of euros in savings compared with the same treatment in Germany. He was happy to find when he got there that the clinic was clean, the staff competent and the work thorough. Greater efforts by clinics to lure customers from abroad for routine procedures are creating new opportunities for tour operators looking to expand into faster-growing markets. Helmut Wachowiak, a professor at the International University of Applied Sciences at Bad Honnef in Germany, says the global medical tourism market is worth $40 billion to $60 billion and is growing at about 20 percent per year. “The medical tourism market is still very much passing by traditional tourism, though it is increasingly recognized as an opportunity for the travel industry,” said Wachowiak, an expert on tourism management. People travel abroad for medical treatment for various reasons: it’s cheaper, they face a long wait at home, or the treatment they want is not available in their own country. Robert MacLaren, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Oxford, said some patients who have immigrated may prefer to return to be close to their families when they undergo surgery. “People will want to take the opportunity to seek treatment in places where it might be cheaper and where they have relatives who might be able to look after them. I’m seeing that especially with younger people from eastern Europe,” he said. The British-based Medical Tourist Company refers about 100 patients a year to hospitals in India for treatments including cardiac surgery, knee and hip replacement, in-vitro fertilization and dental work. Chief Executive Premhar Shah reports rapid growth in demand from customers in Africa, where it can be harder to find well-equipped medical facilities for complex surgeries. Shah, a medical doctor by training, said he competes with hospitals that market directly to prospective patients as well as companies trying to expand into medical tourism. “It’s a very competitive market because everybody wants to jump into it,” he told Reuters. HOCKEY-STICK CURVE  Some countries such as Germany market themselves as a destination for medical tourism. According to the German National Tourist Board, about 77,000 foreign patients were treated in the country in 2010, spending 930 million euros ($1.24 billion). They came mostly from other European countries, Russia, Gulf states or the United States. Hospital operator Helios helps organize visas, hotels and sight-seeing trips for patients coming to Germany for treatment, mostly from Russian-speaking countries and the Middle East. “Many patients specifically opt for a city where they can enjoy what the place has to offer alongside the treatment,” Helios manager Stefan Boeckle said. “Provided their medical condition allows for it, of course.”  He cited the example of a Kuwaiti businessman who came to Berlin for a check-up in December and booked a hotel and theatre tickets for himself and his son, plus a limousine to take him to hospital during the two-day stay. Boeckle says patients from the Middle East have tailed off slightly now that countries such as the United Arab Emirates have started building more hospitals to attract medical tourists themselves. A survey by consultancy IPK International has shown that 3-4 percent of the world’s population travels to foreign countries for medical treatment, and as many as 52 percent of Europeans say they could imagine doing so. “I think booking numbers (in health-related tourism) could rise on a hockey stick-shaped curve in coming years,” said Claudia Staedele, a board member of German medical tourism company Dr. Holiday. “There is still incredible room to grow.”  Dr. Holiday, part of Germany’s second-biggest tour operator Rewe, focuses on vacations that have health-related elements such as exercise classes, but also offers trips to Hungary for dental treatment and to Turkey for laser eye surgery. Between 2003 and 2007, the number of trips Dr. Holiday has sold sky-rocketed from 300 to 30,000. Since then, growth rates have been double-digit and Staedele said she sees an 18 percent rise this year. By comparison, overall international tourism grew by 4 percent in 2012, according to the U.N. World Tourism Organisation. Staedele said the combination of an ageing population and growing acceptance of medical treatments abroad will bolster growth in coming years. Companies can also help those with chronic conditions enjoy a holiday like everybody else. Chiara Frattini works for Holiday Dialysis International, part of Germany’s Fresenius Medical Care, which arranges dialysis for people on holiday. The service started in 1996 and has seen growth of around 6 percent a year, she said. Around 2,000 people contact the service each year, with customers mostly from the United States and Japan, where people tend to travel in large tour groups. She has organized dialysis in destinations such as the Philippines, Senegal, Kenya and Thailand. “But in the Saharan countries, it can be very difficult due to lack of good water and treatment facilities, and some places are just not politically advisable,” she said. The company sets up dialysis wards on cruise ships with nurses and a specialist doctor on board. After a lull for the European financial crisis, Frattini is more confident. “If the patient is facing money problems, the first thing they decide to cancel is their vacation. But I expect that this year will be much better,” she said. For some, there is the attraction of free treatment abroad, at which point politics comes into the equation. In Britain, where most medical care is funded by general taxation and delivered free within the National Health Service, health tourism has become a contentious issue. Legislators have called for tighter checks on patients arriving for treatment, amid concerns that foreign citizens are travelling to Britain to take advantage of the free service. ($1 = 0.7490 euros) Claim: Medical tourism offers travel firms untapped growth.

Answer:
A dentist’s office may not be everyone’s idea of a perfect holiday destination.