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Following is a transcript of the remarks (English portion) by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, at a media session after officiating at the opening ceremony of the FarmFest 2007 today (January 20):
Reporter: First of all, is there any stepped up bird flu prevention with the discovery of birds suspected of H5N1? Secondly, there is also report that a number of obstetrics doctors in the public sector are leaving, what is the thinking of the Government and HA?
Dr Chow: For the first question, first of all, the alert of monitoring H5N1 avian flu among our bird population has increased. We are actually testing more dead birds and swaps of birds on a regular basis. So far, for example, this month, we have tested more than 1,000 birds and we found five dead birds had H5. I can foresee that there will be continuous incidents of such findings. The most important thing is to monitor the trend of the H5N1 within our bird population to ensure also it would not be in contact with human or poultry.
Regarding the obstetricians in the public hospitals, we have yet to see the trend moving towards the private sector. But I believe now with the new measures, there will be a finite number of Mainland pregnant mothers in Hong Kong and therefore also a finite of deliveries in our hospitals, whether in private or public sector. So, I think the situation will balance out eventually. Doctors usually will look at which area that will be better for their career before they move on.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
Ends/Saturday, January 20, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:31
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