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The first international SARS Clinical Management Workshop concluded successfully today (June 14) in Hong Kong as about 160 clinicians and medical experts shared their experiences in combating the infectious disease.
The workshop was co-hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.
Summing up the exchange in the two-day workshop, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, told a post-meeting press conference that Hong Kong has learned a lot about the coronavirus in this outbreak and has shared its experience with the international community.
He said the workshop was also part of the review being carried out on the SARS outbreak. By sharing clinical management experiences with its international counterparts, experiences gained would help Hong Kong set its direction in treatment modalities and if SARS unfortunately appeared in Hong Kong again, to be better prepared to react faster, he said.
The Hong Kong experience was praised by WHO's Dr Mark Salter. "The international community including Hong Kong has reacted in an exemplary fashion to speedily bring this disease under control across the planet," he said.
WHO's Dr Mike Ryan said he was also extremely impressed by the way with which Hong Kong had managed this epidemic.
"In fact, it is a model for the world. The leadership shown by Dr Yeoh and the teams in the public health sector has been exemplary.
"The expertise of the doctors, the expertise of the nurses and the people of public health, and the public health measures that have been taken, we have been impressed by this since our arrival," he said.
At the press conference, Professor Yuen Kwok-yung of Hong Kong University and Professor Joseph Sung of the Chinese University of Hong Kong had also shared their experiences in clinical management and treatment modalities with the press members.
End/Saturday, June 14, 2003
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