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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
Earlier there were media reports on a Mr Li who had approached the Hospital Authority (HA) for assistance in locating his family members. The Authority arranged last month a Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) parental test for Mr Li, a woman and another man born in Tsan Yuk Hospital (TYH) on the same day as Mr Li. Subsequently, all the parties concerned have been duly informed of the test outcome.
In order to assist Mr Li in looking for his family, the HA spokesman now appeals to women who had delivered a baby boy between November 28 and December 14, 1976 at TYH, as well as men who were born during the same period at TYH, to approach the Authority before April 30, 2008 to provide more information by calling Mr Poon of the Corporate Communication Department of HA at 2300 6781 during office hours.
With their consent, HA will help arrange the DNA parental tests for them together with Mr Li or the aforementioned woman. The test results will only be used for the above parental verification purpose and also will only be made available to the client receiving the test. All specimens will then be destroyed together with the test results.
Furthermore, HA also plans to send individual letters early next month (March 2008) to some 180 women, who according to the available records of Tsan Yuk Hospital had given birth at the said period, inviting them to assist in providing the required information.
Those who do not wish to receive the invitation letter or who have any enquiries on the related matters can contact HA at 2300 6781.
A spokesman for the Social Welfare Department (SWD) said that upon receiving the request of Mr Li at the end of November last year, the department had conducted a search of the records at all its service units.
As a result of the search, it was found that the departmentˇ¦s former Chuk Yuen Children's Reception Centre had opened a file on December 15, 1976 for a child whose name in English matched with the English transliteration of the name used by Mr Li at the time. However, the relevant file was destroyed with the closure of the centre in 2003. The only piece of information left now is the name in English of the child, the file reference number and the opening date of the file.
To further assist Mr Li, the SWD spokesman appeals for any male person who was admitted to the former Chuk Yuen Children's Reception Centre in the month of December 1976 and who was a new born baby at the time to contact the department on 2892 5165 during office hours to assist in providing information. The SWD will arrange for DNA tests for those who are prepared to give consent.
Ends/Monday, February 25, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:42
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