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Following is a question by the Hon Tommy Cheung and a reply by the Secretary for Health,Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November 23):
Question:
The Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food has previously indicated that if there is an outbreak of human infection of avian influenza, the authorities will close the border in the worst-case scenario. Since the Secretary has not explained clearly the details of the above measure, his words have caused much anxiety among the catering, retail and food manufacturing industries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the circumstances and considerations under which it will activate the border-closing measure, and whether it will make reference to the World Health Organization's relevant guidelines; whether it has considered replacing border-closure with alternative measures, such as quarantining people who come from infected areas and have probably been infected with avian influenza;
(b) whether it has already drawn up a list of food items which will be banned for import when the border is closed, and of the criteria adopted for drawing up such a list; and
(c) of the arrangements for those Hong Kong people, such as cross-boundary drivers, who may fail to come back to Hong Kong from an infected area in time before the border is closed?
Reply:
Madam President,
Recently, outbreaks of avian influenza in birds/poultry have been reported in many of our neighbouring regions. In some of these regions, human infection cases were also found sporadically. In Hong Kong, human infections of avian influenza were first recorded in 1997, and some cases were found later in 1999 and 2003. Since 2004, Hong Kong has remained infection-free despite outbreaks in the Asian region. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also maintained that there is as yet no evidence of effective human-to-human transmission of avian influenza. That said, we cannot rule out the possibility of strain mutation. We therefore should remain vigilant, continue to get ourselves prepared, keep a close watch on the epidemic development, and take preventive and control measures as appropriate.
(a) The International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR 2005) were adopted by the World Health Assembly in May this year to prevent and control the international spread of disease. The Regulations stipulate that in the implementation of disease control measures, unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade should be avoided while fundamental human rights be respected.
The IHR 2005 also stipulate that when a public health emergency of international concern takes place, the WHO may issue temporary recommendations to its State Parties for implementation. The targets of these recommendations can be either persons or articles, such as baggage, conveyances, animals and plants and postal parcels, etc. According to Article 18 of the IHR 2005, the WHO may make a range of recommendations on the movement of persons and goods in light of the seriousness of the epidemic and actual need. These recommendations may include inspections on goods or medical examinations, quarantine, and refusal of entry of goods and persons who have been infected or suspected to have been infected. These principles and provisions laid down by the WHO will be complied with when the time comes for us to decide what port health measures are to be taken.
The enormous flow of passengers and goods between the HKSAR and the Mainland necessitates us to step up public health surveillance and control at our immigration control points if and when the risk of an avian influenza outbreak becomes higher across the border. When deciding on actions to be taken, we will consider, among others, the prevailing condition of epidemic outbreak, mode of epidemic transmission, efficiency of its transmission, scale of spreading and incubation period, the prevailing situations in Hong Kong and our neighbouring regions, the latest scientific evidence as well as WHO's recommendations, so as to determine the most appropriate disease prevention measures to be taken at control points with regard to the risk level. We will strike a proper balance between effective disease prevention and smooth flow of passengers and goods.
Depending on risk assessment, one of the effective disease prevention measures to be taken at control points is to impose quarantine on persons who come from infected areas and have contracted avian influenza or have been in contact with persons with avian influenza.
The so-called border-closing measure will indeed only be considered in the worst-case scenario. The extent of border control measures to be adopted will be determined depending on seriousness of the outbreak. The Administration will have full regard to the prevailing situations before making a decision, and in doing so, will comply with the IHR of the WHO and make reference to WHO's recommendations.
(b) Other than the practice of stopping the import of live poultry and poultry meat from areas affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza in accordance with our current policies and the guidelines issued by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), we have not drawn up a list of food items which will be banned from import when the border is closed. In deciding whether to ban a particular food item from import into Hong Kong during an epidemic, our primary consideration will be risk assessment, and we must take into account such factors as the mode of virus transmission, whether the food item is an effective medium of transmission, its mode of conveyance and its hygienic condition, etc.
(c) As I said earlier, border-closing measure will only be considered in the worst-case scenario and on WHO's recommendation. When there is evidence showing effective human-to-human transmission of a new strain of influenza virus, we will first step up our health measures at the immigration control points such as requiring inbound travellers to declare their health status or placing those who may have been infected by the disease under quarantine.
The HKSAR Government, like governments of other places, has the obligation to take care of its people. Nevertheless, in order to stop the spread of a pandemic to Hong Kong and protect the health of our residents who return to Hong Kong, we may need to take quarantine measures such as requiring those returning to the territory during a pandemic outbreak to undergo medical examination, medical surveillance, medical treatment and quarantine, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Issued at HKT 12:05
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