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With the imminent approach of the peak flu season, Health InfoWorld of the Hospital Authority (HA) in conjunction with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) and Headline Daily Limited are launching the "Let's BEAT the FLU" Campaign. The campaign calls upon the support of employers in the Hong Kong to promote the message of flu prevention and offers employers an opportunity to pledge their commitment to health protection of the community and their staff. Lasting for three months, the campaign was officially launched today (11 November). Its main objectives are as follows:
(1) To educate employers, employees and their families through direct and indirect training on flu prevention. It is expected to complete training 500,000 people over the space of three months.
(2) To call on employers of all organisations of all sizes to support and participate in the campaign so that their employees and families will have a good grasp of the key flu prevention measures. Therefore the whole community will increase their awareness of the importance of flu prevention and get well-prepared for the peak flu season.
(3) To offer employers an opportunity to show a caring attitude towards staff and to demonstrate corporate social responsibility for the betterment and wellness of the community of Hong Kong.
Since 7 November, the above-mentioned media organisations have been carrying out publicity and recruitment drives for the campaign. There have been very positive responses from organisations in various sectors. Senior executives from more than 60 organisations led their major staff representatives and attended todayˇ¦s pledging ceremony. They devoted their united support to the campaign and all pledged to contribute to flu prevention in Hong Kong.
There is already a vast array of organisations and trades participating in the campaign, including those from public utilities companies, financial services, insurers, catering, tourism, hotel, transportation, construction and retail industries. There are also labour unions and business associations. The total number of employees that the participating organisations have are estimated to exceed 200,000. Driving the campaign, Health InfoWorld of the HA requires a participating organisation to appoint at least one staff member to be ˇ§Health Ambassadorˇ¨ to be in liaison and co-ordinate with the HA on flu prevention training and initiatives. Health Ambassadors will attend ˇ§Train-the-trainersˇ¨ flu prevention training sessions where participants will learn about infection control measures, such as improving personal hygiene and ways to stop the spread of the flu virus. They will be encouraged to use the training kit for internal training sessions at their own organisations. The HA will continuously and regularly disseminate health information to these organisations.
Immediately after the pledging ceremony, several hundreds of "Health Ambassadors" attended the first infection control training session and learnt the "Train the Trainers" approach to promote and teach infection control measures. The HA expects to train at least a total of 500,000 office workers and their families over the following three months.
Addressing at the ceremony, Mr Anthony Wu, Chairman of the HA, said, "As Hong Kong and the whole world are facing the threat of various infectious diseases, especially that of influenza, promoting the message of flu prevention is a matter of immediate urgency. In fact, medical evidence has shown that maintaining personal and environmental hygiene, notably frequent handwashing, is the most basic and effective way to prevent bacterial and viral growth and spread. The flu peak season is upcoming . Members of the public should increase their awareness of the importance of flu prevention and adopt infection control measures."
"Although the HA is very busily gearing up to beat the flu, we have not forgotten the need to enhance the communityˇ¦s preparedness for infectious disease outbreaks. If the community is not well-prepared, their demands would seriously impact on public hospital services. Thus, hospitals and the community each play an equally important role in flu prevention efforts. We need to be united to succeed in flu prevention."
"Let's BEAT the FLU" Campaign is fully driven by Health InfoWorld, which rides on the opportunity of the "Better Health for a Better Hong Kong" (BHBHK) Campaign. The health messages of "Mental Wellness", "Regular Exercise" and "Balanced Diet" are promoted as Phase I of the BHBHK programme to prevent non communicable killer diseases. Now education initiatives on flu prevention are being launched as Phase II to prevent fatal virus attacks. The BHBHK programme sponsors the infection control training sessions and the production of publicity and training materials.
The BHBHK programme is a territory-wide health promotion campaign jointly organised by Health InfoWorld of the HA and the Li Ka Shing Foundation in 2000 with the Foundationˇ¦s generous support of HK$10 million.
Organisations which are interested to enquire of "Let's BEAT the FLU" campaign can call its Recruitment Hotline at 2370 9955; or access its Website www.healthinfoworld.org.hk.
Ends/Friday, November 11, 2005
Issued at HKT 19:56
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