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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kwok Ka-ki and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November 30):
Question:
Regarding the prevention and control of avian influenza, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the total amount of expenditures on preventing and controlling avian influenza this year and in the past three years, including recurrent, non-recurrent and one-off lump sum funds committed or estimated for this financial year; as well as the details concerning the relevant purposes and amounts of the allocations;
(b) of the current disposable balance of the Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Diseases (RFCID) which was established with Government funding of $500 million; institutions receiving allocations from RFCID for research studies on preventing and controlling avian influenza and the relevant amounts; as well as the number of research projects involved, their subject areas, details and findings;
(c) whether action plans have been formulated for preventing and controlling avian influenza; whether the authorities will, in addition to proposing amendments to the Prevention of the Spread of Infectious Diseases Regulations, proceed with enacting emergency legislation and examine other relevant existing legislation to ascertain the necessary amendments and the timing for the commencement of the amendments, with a view to tackling the crisis and preventing the spread of the epidemic in the community; and
(d) whether it will consider allocating additional funds and earmarking resources for setting up a contingency fund for stockpiling sufficient supplies for disease prevention, such as vaccines, medication, masks and face shields, conducting risk assessments and formulating guidelines and allocation principles; as well as the details of the specific fallback scheme for replenishment to cope with any possible shortage of medical supplies, thereby strengthening the capacity of the authorities for handling an avian influenza epidemic that may occur at any time?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Administration has been investing heavily in the public health hardware and software to strengthen our defence against avian influenza. Despite the sporadic outbreak avian influenza in neighbouring places, Hong Kong has been free from the virus since early 2004. The WHO has also commended that Hong Kong has one of the most advanced systems in terms of preparedness that they have seen.
(a) During the period from 2002 to 2004, we estimate that the Government incurred capital and recurrent expenditures of more than $4.5 billion to enhance our preparedness against emerging infectious diseases including avian influenza. For example, some of these investments included the provision of an infectious disease block in Princess Margaret Hospital ($538 million), 1,415 isolation beds in 14 major acute hospitals ($539 million), setting up the Centre for Health Protection (additional resources of over $400 million including donations from the Hong Kong Jockey Club), antiviral stockpiling ($306 million) and additional resources for Hospital Authority to step up infectious diseases control ($550 million). Other major expenditure items include the purchase of personal protective equipment and medical equipment (more than $300 million), infection control for local poultry/birds ($36 million), retail market surveillance ($33 million), import control for poultry ($23 million) and border health measures ($14 million), etc. We estimate an expenditure of over $150 million will be incurred in 2005.
(b) Since its establishment in 2003, the Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Diseases (RFCID) has committed approximately $200 million to infectious disease research in Hong Kong and Mainland. The total amount of uncommitted fund is about $300 million.
RFCID supports both commissioned projects and investigator-initiated projects. Some $30 million of the committed fund was allocated to a commissioned project undertaken by the University of Hong Kong (HKU), which include 7 projects on avian influenza. As for investigator-initiated projects, 9 projects on human/avian influenza have been supported, with a funding of some $5.4 million. Investigators of these projects are from HKU and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, collaborating with other local institutions, for example, the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health and overseas institution, such as the Mainland, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.
These studies address basic science aspects that examine the genetics and pandemic potential of avian influenza viruses and immune response to influenza. They also include public health studies on the health burden and prediction models as well as clinical science studies on the incidence and vaccination effect, health resource utilisation and use of traditional Chinese medicine in influenza.
The outcome of these projects will help inform our strategy regarding development of treatment and prevention regimens, infection control practice for targeted parties as well as our disease surveillance system. Since these projects are still on-going, their detailed outcome is not yet available.
(c) The Administration has promulgated a Framework of Government's Preparedness Plan for Influenza Pandemic. The Plan, which was developed with reference to the WHO's Global Influenza Preparedness Plan, envisages a three-tiered Emergency Response Level (i.e. Alert, Serious and Emergency) with corresponding lines of command and response measures to cater for different possible outbreak scenarios. Regular drills are conducted to review the Plan, with the most recent one conducted on November 24, 2005 involving over 30 government departments and bureaux as well as the Chief Executive/HKSARG. In case of an outbreak in Hong Kong, the Administration will keep closely in view its development and the need for any urgent legislative amendments to facilitate disease prevention and control work.
(d) As mentioned above, the Administration has already invested heavily to enhance Hong Kong's preparedness against an avian influenza outbreak, and funds have been earmarked for specific response actions in case of an outbreak. At the moment, we do not see an urgent need to set up an emergency fund. There is an established mechanism to allow the Administration to seek Legislative Council's urgent support for additional funding requirement should such need arise.
In respect of personal protective equipment (PPE) (e.g. masks and protective gear), emergency supplies are kept by various departments in case of urgent need. Sufficient stock is kept by the Government Logistics Department (GLD) for emergency uses by all departments for at least three months. In case of an outbreak, GLD will activate its emergency plan to allocate emergency supplies to departments in need. GLD will also place order with contracted suppliers to obtain replenishment and will assist departments to procure for other emergency supplies they need. Relevant government departments have developed guidelines on infection control practices as well as proper use and allocation of PPE in accordance with a guideline promulgated by DH.
DH has procured sufficient seasonal influenza vaccines for use under the Government Influenza Vaccination Programme. DH has also secured sufficient funding for stockpiling antiviral drugs. In determining how the vaccines and antiviral drugs should be distributed to provide the best protection to general public health, DH follows the recommendations of the relevant Scientific Committees under the Centre for Health Protection, and a risk-based approach is adopted. DH will keep closely in view the outbreak situation, and will refine its strategy in respect of vaccine and antiviral provision as appropriate.
Ends/Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Issued at HKT 12:33
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