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The Government today (October 30) distributed a leaflet in Causeway Bay, Central, and Tsim Sha Tsui as part of its efforts to step up publicity about avian flu prevention.
The leaflet, entitled "What You Should Know about Avian Flu", comes in two versions - one printed in Chinese and English, and the other in Tagalog, Thai, Indonesian, Nepalese, Hindi and Urdu.
Copies of the leaflets were distributed to the public, including ethnic minorities, from 9am to 6pm today at Victoria Park, Ground Plaza of the HSBC Main Building, Chater Garden, Statue Square and St Joseph's Church in Central, Star Ferry concourses on both sides of the harbour, Kowloon Park and the piazza outside the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The leaflet will also be available to foreign domestic helpers through workers' unions, employment agencies, relevant consulates, office counters of the Labour Department's Labour Relations Division and the Immigration Department's Foreign Domestic Helpers Section. Visitors to Hong Kong will be able to get the leaflets at the airport, land border points and ferry terminals.
Employers of foreign domestic helpers are reminded to convey the health message carried in the leaflet to their helpers at home. Currently, there are 220,000 foreign domestic helpers working in Hong Kong, with the majority of them coming from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
From tomorrow (October 31), residents may collect the leaflet at Home Affairs Department public enquiry service counters, Central Health Education Unit of the Department of Health on the seventh floor of Southorn Centre, Wan Chai, and Publishing and Internet Resource Section of the Information Services Department on the fourth floor, Murray Building, Garden Road, Central. The leaflet will also be available at public housing estates.
In further publicity efforts to drive home the message of avian flu prevention, another leaflet with more health advice and printed in Chinese, English and 15 other languages is being prepared for distribution to the public.
In the electronic media, two new Announcements in the Public Interest reminding people to step up hygiene measures and practise a healthy lifestyle will appear on TV and radio from early November.
To learn more about the prevention of avian flu, latest developments of the disease, simple health advice in 17 languages (including Chinese and English) and useful links, the public may visit the dedicated website www.gov.hk/info/flu.
Ends/Sunday, October 30, 2005
Issued at HKT 11:26
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