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Various Government departments and non-government institutions today (July 30) briefed a delegation from Taipei led by Mr Ou Chen-dur on Hong Kong's experience in the prevention and management of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
A Constitutional Affairs Bureau spokesman said that the Government welcomed exchanges between Hong Kong and Taiwan. The visit of the 20-member delegation is hosted by the Hong Kong - Taiwan Youth Exchange Promotion Association.
During the visit to the Government's Department of Health, the delegates were briefed on the epidemiological findings, prevention and control SARS measures.
The delegates also visited the Princess Margaret Hospital where they heard about how the staff handled the SARS outbreak at the hospital.
They were also shown the fever triage area in the Accident and Emergency Department and a SARS Intensive Care Unit ward where works are being undertaken to improve the isolation facilities.
At the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Faculty of Medicine, the delegates were briefed on some of the important projects being conducted by the University in collaboration with prominent international scientists.
They noted with interest the world-class research infrastructure and technical platform of the Genome Research Centre that provide strong support to HKU's researches on SARS.
They were also told about the work of the University's Microbiology Department in tracking the agent of SARS during the outbreak and the future direction of SARS research at HKU.
The delegation later visited the Team Clean Office and was briefed on the Team's mission, strategy and work plan on overall hygiene improvement measures for Hong Kong.
In their visit to the Labour Department and the Home Affairs Bureau, the relevant officials introduced to the delegates the setting up of the 'Loan Guarantee Scheme For SARS Impacted Industries' and the work of the Advisory Committee on the Promotion of the Fighting Spirit against SARS respectively.
The delegation will depart Hong Kong tomorrow.
End/Wednesday, July 30, 2003
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