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Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Cheng and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):
Question:
Statistics from the Department of Health indicate that there has been a rise in the number of cases of infection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the Men-having-Sex-with-Men (MSM) community. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the measures taken by the authorities to curb such a trend, and whether they will step up the publicity work among the MSM community on preventing HIV infection;
(b) of the measures to curb the transmission of HIV in the communities practising unprotected sex and to prevent the development of any new infected communities; and
(c) how the authorities monitor and review the effectiveness of the above efforts?
Reply:
Madam President,
All along, the Administration endeavours to raise public awareness of AIDS and safe sex through its education and publicity programmes. We also strengthen our AIDS prevention efforts among high-risk communities and AIDS patients through the provision of HIV tests and counselling services. As a result, the overall HIV prevalence in Hong Kong has been kept at a low level (at below 0.1% as at March 2006). That said, we cannot afford to be complacent.
The Administration is concerned with the recent increase in HIV infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Hong Kong, as evidenced from the reported cases, seroprevalence surveys and investigation of HIV cluster, and has embarked on corresponding preventive measures to deal with the situation. The Department of Health (DH) launched a major publicity and education campaign among the MSM community in mid-2006 to raise the relevant community's awareness of AIDS and the importance of safe sex as well as to promote condom use.
We understand that enhancing the involvement of the relevant community is an important part of our HIV prevention strategy. In this connection, the Red Ribbon Centre of the DH is now stepping up its efforts to promote greater involvement of the MSM community in HIV prevention, establish a partnership with them, build capacity and provide technical support. In addition, the AIDS Trust Fund will also consider providing appropriate funds to encourage community-based HIV prevention programmes by the non-governmental organisations for the MSM community.
AIDS prevention is not the sole responsibility of the Administration. Individuals must also do their part by taking appropriate precautionary measures to protect themselves and avoid infecting others. The Administration is aware of the behaviours of the relevant high-risk communities and will accordingly take intervention actions, mount publicity campaigns on AIDS prevention and promote safe sex.
The DH will strive to enhance the HIV surveillance system in Hong Kong in order to facilitate early detection of any new cluster of HIV cases, planning of interventions and evaluation of the response. The DH will also continue to monitor HIV prevalence, and collect data and information for analysis and assessment of the effectiveness of the above measures, so as to develop an appropriate strategy and ensure optimal use of resources.
Ends/Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:31
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