The Government announced today (December 5) that the Chief Executive in Council has approved the introduction of the Prevention and Control of Disease Bill into the Legislative Council to replace the existing Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ordinance (Cap 141).

     The bill aims to bring the local legal provisions in line with the requirements of the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and to update the local legal framework for the prevention and control of disease.

     A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said that Hong Kong should be able to meet the basic requirements of the IHR(2005) during peacetime under the existing legislation but needed to update the legal framework to strengthen the monitoring of, and to impose control measures on, cross-boundary conveyances, points of entry and travellers to ensure the ability to comply with IHR (2005), especially during disease outbreaks.

     The bill provides for the implementation of robust routine measures and the establishment of effective disease surveillance systems to ensure timely detection of diseases and contamination at boundary control points. In addition, it enables the timely implementation of control measures to prevent cross-boundary spread of disease, and the implementation of WHO's recommendations from time to time.  It will also strengthen our disease control structure by clarifying the legal powers of health officers, expanding the list of notifiable diseases, etc.

     Major legislative proposals in the bill are to:

* Provide that a health officer (HO) may, with the written approval of the Director of Health, seize any article that the HO has reason to believe is an infectious agent or contains an infectious agent;

* Provide that the Director of Health may order just and equitable compensation to be paid for any article that is damaged, destroyed, seized, etc. under the bill;

* Provide that a HO may forfeit any article that is taken into Hong Kong illegally;

* Provide for the power to arrest a person who escapes from detention;

* Provide for a list of 45 infectious diseases and a list of 31 infectious agents that are to be controlled by the bill;

* Empower the Secretary for Food and Health to make regulations for the purpose of the prevention of any disease and the spread of any disease and contamination;

* Empower the Director of Health to prescribe by an order published in the Gazette any measure to be applied in the light of any temporary recommendation made by the WHO; and

* Empower the Chief Executive in Council to make public health emergency regulations for the purposes of preventing, combating or alleviating the effects of a public health emergency and protecting public health.

     Under the bill, the Chief Executive in Council may make a Prevention and Control of Disease (Public Health Emergency) Regulation, for the purpose of combating and controlling an  emergency situation, when an occasion of public health emergency exists.  The regulation may:

* Empower the Government to access and disclose information to the public relating to the state of the public health emergency for the purpose of protecting public health;

* Empower the Government to requisition private property with compensation; and

* Enable the temporary appointment of qualified but unregistered health care personnel to perform duties as prescribed by the Director of Health.

     "These provisions are essential to ensure that public health measures can be effectively carried out in times of emergency.  We must emphasise that any such decisions will only be made and powers exercised in very exceptional circumstances," the spokesman said.

     The bill only contains fundamental and enabling provisions.  Provisions that are operational in nature will be included in a new subsidiary legislation, the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation, which will be made by the Secretary for Food and Health after the enactment of the bill.  The regulation will provide a holistic plan of measures for the prevention, surveillance and control of infectious diseases and cross-boundary spread of disease in respect of Hong Kong residents, travellers, goods and cross-boundary conveyances.  Examples of measures include:

* Update and expand the list of notifiable diseases;

* Require notification of release of controlled infectious agents;

* Empower the Director of Health to require surrender of controlled infectious agent for proper disposal to prevent the spread of diseases in the community, or for gathering information for disease prevention and control purposes;

* Subject travellers to medical examination or test;

* Prohibit exit of contacts of, or persons infected with, SARS, avian influenza or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis;

* Prohibit exit of travellers on WHO's temporary recommendation;

* Place sick persons, contacts and carriers under isolation or quarantine or medical surveillance;

* Isolate points of entry or cross-boundary conveyances; etc.

     "Following the principles of the IHR(2005), we will ensure that measures implemented for preventing cross-boundary spread of disease will cause minimal interference with international traffic and trade," the spokesman emphasised.

     The bill will be gazetted on Friday (December 7) and introduced into the Legislative Council on December 19.

Ends/Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Issued at HKT 18:49

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