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The Advisory Committee on the Centre for Health Protection (ACCHP) today (December 18) endorsed a proposal to set up a new public health agency within the Department of Health.
The proposed Centre for Health Protection (CHP) would be headed by the Director of Health underpinned by a chief health protection controller posted from the department.
The CHP would start initial operation in mid-2004 on priority areas .
Taking into account that the setting up of the CHP would be an extension of the public health authority's job, members agreed that it would make sense to employ an officer from within the department with the relevant experience in disease prevention and control work as well as contacts built up with Mainland and overseas authorities to ensure smooth and continuous operation.
The setting up of a CHP was recommended in the SARS Expert Committee report as a move to strengthen Hong Kong's public health system.
Speaking after today's ACCHP meeting, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong said under the proposed institutional arrangements, the Director of Health would provide overall guidance while the chief health protection controller would oversee the management and day-to-day operation of the agency and formulate strategic plans for the CHP.
Taking into account overseas experience, the health needs and circumstances of the local population and the Expert Committee's comments on the structural deficiencies in the current public health system, the ACCHP agreed that six functional branches should be set up in the CHP. They are:
* Surveillance and Epidemiology Branch;
* Infection Control Branch;
* Emergency Response and Information Branch;
* Public Health Laboratory Services;
* Public Health Services; and
* Programme Management and Professional Development Branch.
Detailed functional descriptions of the six branches are in the Annex.
The chairman of the ACCHP, Mrs Carrie Yau, who is also Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, said: "With the setting up of these six branches, there should be a clearer demarcation of duties and enhancement of functions to bridge the gaps identified by the Expert Committee.
"We envisage a health protection agency with all the functional elements to operate fairly smoothly in 2005.
"Because of the need to provide new accommodation, develop new information technology systems and recruit additional staff, it would take some time before the CHP would become fully operational. A transitional arrangement is needed to reap early benefits while allowing sufficient time for the longer-term modalities and systems to be developed."
Members of the ACCHP agreed that pending the full establishment of the CHP in 2005, the Surveillance and Epidemiology Branch and the Infection Control Branch should be in place by mid-2004 to enrich and integrate resources to tackle communicable disease outbreaks and to improve collaboration of relevant stakeholders in the public health infrastructure for better infection control.
"On staffing of the CHP, the six functional branches would mainly comprise existing staff of the Department of Health and some staff from the Hospital Authority, supplemented by new recruits with appropriate expertise where needed," Mrs Yau said.
At today's meeting, members noted that an integrated approach to health hazards is the cornerstone of health protection. They agreed that on top of a vertical organisation, health protection programmes pooling together experts from different agencies and disciplines should be set up to tackle a list of priority health hazards.
Separately, the ACCHP noted the progress made by the Administration in implementing the recommendations made by the Experts Committee in planning for better communications, surveillance, information and data management systems.
"The enhanced communication platforms and new surveillance and information systems will in future be operated by the CHP," Mrs Yau said.
Members also noted the Administration's plan to review the existing legislation, notably the Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ordinance (Cap. 141), to ensure its adequacy to deal with threats posed by infectious diseases.
The ACCHP was tasked with giving advice on the functional and organisational framework of the CHP and monitoring the progress of its development. The committee's membership comprises healthcare professionals in the public and private sectors, experts in disciplines relevant to the work of the CHP, a Hong Kong Jockey Club representative and relevant senior government officials.
Annex
* Surveillance and Epidemiology Branch: This will provide the framework for monitoring and contributing to the prevention and control of diseases of relevance to the population in Hong Kong. Under the umbrella of this branch, there will be a Communicable Disease Division and a Non-Communicable Disease Division. The former consists of a Field Epidemiology Unit (FEU) and a Communicable Disease Surveillance Unit (CDSU). The FEU will specialise in managing and responding to outbreaks and disease notifications, conducting field investigations, and the organisation of work-based training for professional staff. The CDSU will work on the co-ordination of a central hub for data collection relating to infections and be responsible for epidemic intelligence, information system data management and cross-border surveillance.
* Infection Control Branch: This will comprise a Centre of Infection Control in Princess Margaret Hospital and Epidemiology and Infection Control Units in hospital clusters of HA. The branch will develop, promulgate, and evaluate best practices in infection control at healthcare and non-healthcare settings, support epidemiological investigations of communicable disease outbreaks in hospitals and support training in infection control for all levels of healthcare staff.
* Emergency Response and Information Branch: It will be responsible for overall corporate planning, co-ordinating emergency response on a community/Hong Kong-wide basis, contingency planning, overall risk communication strategy, updating information system needs and facilitating the development of preventive strategy and cross-sector logistic support.
* Public Health Laboratory Services: In addition to the provision of laboratory services and carrying out laboratory surveillance, it will be responsible for training of laboratory infection control professionals and the development of partnership with laboratories in the Hospital Authority, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Government Laboratory, local universities and overseas agencies.
* Public Health Services: It will provide specialised clinical services (HIV, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases) and will collaborate with hospitals and other clinical services on these three areas.
*Programme Management and Professional Development Branch: It will provide management support to health protection programmes for targeted diseases and applied research projects. This branch will also be responsible for training and professional development.
Ends/Thursday, December 18, 2003
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