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The Hospital Management and Administration Group of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) Expert Committee today (June 26) starts off a three-day tightly scheduled meeting in Hong Kong to review the management and control of SARS outbreak.
The Group, chaired by Sir Cyril Chantler, will conduct a series of meetings with Hospital Authority (HA) board members and top executives, Department of Health officials, frontline health care workers, legislators and medical and health experts.
Speaking before this morning's meeting, Sir Cyril said the Group's main task in the next three days was to seek information, to find out what they need to know, to ask questions and to identify issues.
"It is probably necessary for further research to take place. One of the things we need to do is to work out what are the questions we need to investigate between now and when we meet again in August," he said.
Sir Cyril added that the Group had to try to place themselves as far as they could in the position that they might find themselves in the middle of March this year and trace the history from then unto now as it was unfolded.
"It's all too easy in June to look back as though it's in March and I think if we are to do that, we will be unfair in our evaluation of what has taken place," he said.
Sir Cyril was grateful for the significant amount of materials prepared by the Secretariat.
"I am very impressed by the comprehensive nature of the briefing materials, and the openness you've shown in presenting them to us," he said.
Noting there had been some criticisms in the media about whether the Group could be seen as an independent group as the Convenor of the Group is the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Sir Cyril assured that he and his colleagues are independent.
"We are here to serve the people of Hong Kong and we are appointed by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong to do that. That's what we will do," he said.
Before the meeting, Sir Cyril and members expressed their sympathy for the people of Hong Kong who had to go through the most terrible time, and for those people who had suffered the loss of those they loved.
They also expressed their tremendous respect for the heroic activities of the health care workers in Hong Kong.
Group members today meet the Director of Health, Dr Margaret Chan; and the chief executive and senior executives of HA.
They will meet frontline medical and health care workers as well as senior HA officials tomorrow. On Saturday, Group members will meet legislators and local experts.
Besides Sir Cyril, other members in the hospital group are: Dr Sherene Devanesen, Mr John Wyn Owen, Dr Tang Xiaoping, Professor Rosie Young and Dr Zhong Nanshan.
The 12-member committee, including the chairman and convenor -- the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, was appointed by the Chief Executive last month with a view to better prepare Hong Kong for any future outbreak of infectious diseases.
The committee has subsequently formed into two groups - the Hospital Management and Administration Group and the Public Health Group (chaired by Professor Sian Griffiths) to oversee fact-finding and information gathering of related issues of their respective areas.
The public health group will meet in July while the plenary session of the committee will be held in August. The committee is expected to conclude its work and submit a report to the Chief Executive in September.
End/Thursday, June 26, 2003
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