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Hong Kong・s low HIV infection rate owed much to the unstinting efforts of the Red Ribbon Centre of the Department of Health, Mrs Selina Tsang, the wife of the Chief Executive, said today (June 23).
Mrs Tsang, who is the Patron of the Red Ribbon Centre, was officiating at the opening ceremony of the centre・s new wing in Lok Fu. She said the extension of the centre signified a major milestone in the local history of HIV prevention.
She said that over the past nine years, the centre had strived to fulfil the mission of HIV prevention and education, serving as an AIDS education, research and resource centre in Hong Kong. It was also designated as the United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS) Collaborating Centre for Technical Support.
：Apart from organising health talks and seminars on AIDS prevention, it also facilitates collaboration and exchanges between Hong Kong and the Mainland as well as other regions in this regard.
：As a result of the joint efforts of the centre and various non-governmental organisations, we are pleased to see the increasing acceptance, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS and their families,； Mrs Tsang said.
As local and overseas groups have access to the abundant resources of the centre for research and technical exchange, Mrs Tsang said she was confident that the centre would contribute even more to the prevention of HIV, both locally and globally.
Also speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Health, Dr P Y Lam, said the Red Ribbon Centre was established nine years ago to promote the prevention of HIV/AIDS in the community and the opening of the new wing with more facilities would help the parties concerned to face the challenge ahead.
Over the years, he said, the centre had established networks with different local, Mainland and overseas partners for promoting the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, and the progress it had made was the result of the unfailing support and active participation of non-governmental organisations and various sectors of the community.
Dr Lam said that due to the painstaking efforts of the parties concerned over the past 20 years, the HIV infection rate in Hong Kong had remained low.
：However, we must stay vigilant because the works on the prevention of the HIV/AIDS must go on to control the spread of the disease,； he said.
Dr Lam also expressed his gratitude to UNAIDS and its Country Co-ordinator for China, Mr Joel Rehnstrom, for their support of the centre.
Before the ceremony, Mr Rehnstrom, on behalf of UNAIDS, re-appointed pop singer Miriam Yeung as the Special Representative for UNAIDS for the next two years because of her strong commitment to the AIDS prevention and sex education among young people in Hong Kong and the broader Chinese community.
Also attending the opening ceremony were Chairman of the Advisory Council on AIDS, Professor C N Chen, Chairman of the Council for the AIDS Trust Fund, Professor T K Chan, Chairman of the Management Advisory Committee of the Red Ribbon Centre, Dr Samuel Yu and Controller of the Centre for Health Protection, Dr P Y Leung.
Ends/Friday, June 23, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:28
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