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The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, will depart for Hangzhou this afternoon (November 1) to attend the cross-straits exchange session on health-care reform and development, which will be held on November 2 and 3.
The exchange session is organised by the China Health Economics Association. Dr Chow will brief the meeting on the latest developments of health-care reform in Hong Kong. He will also take the opportunity to exchange views on health protection systems and hospital management with health officials from the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao to foster co-operation among the four places.
Dr Chow will then leave for Beijing on Thursday afternoon (November 3) for the 10th Joint Meeting of Senior Health Officials of the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao on November 4.
During the meeting, senior health officials will exchange views and share experiences in four areas - hospital accreditation, prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, tobacco control, and the system of general practitioners and specialists - to deepen co-operation between the three places. It is hoped that the three places can complement each other's strengths with a common objective of safeguarding the health of their communities.
Dr Chow will deliver a speech at the opening ceremony of the Joint Meeting outlining Hong Kong's work progress and future plans in the above areas.
Members of the Hong Kong delegation attending the Joint Meeting will include the Director of Health, Dr Lam Ping-yan, and the Hospital Authority's Chief Executive, Dr Leung Pak-yin.
Dr Chow will return to Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon (November 5).
Ends/Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Issued at HKT 13:31
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