LCQ1: Promotion of breastfeeding
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Question:
It has been reported that recently a taxi driver uploaded onto the Internet a secretly taken photograph of a female passenger breastfeeding a baby inside the taxi compartment. The driver was subsequently arrested by the Police under the charge of access to computer with criminal or dishonest intent. The aforesaid incident has aroused public concern that some people have poor understanding and level of acceptance of breastfeeding and that the privacy of passengers on public transport lacks protection. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the Government will provide more babycare rooms and relevant ancillary facilities in recreational and cultural venues under its management, to facilitate women to breastfeed their babies; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) of the Government's publicity and promotion plans in the coming five years to enhance the public understanding of and support for breastfeeding, so as to create a breastfeeding-friendly society; and
(3) given that the Guidance on CCTV Surveillance and Use of Drones (the Guidance) published by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data provides that people should be explicitly informed that they are subject to surveillance by closed-circuit television (CCTV) (including devices that are capable of capturing images of individuals), and that the ways of informing people include putting up conspicuous notices, whether the authorities have grasped the present situation about (i) the installation of CCTVs in vehicle compartments and (ii) the display of notices in accordance with the Guidance, by operators of various modes of public transport?
Reply:
President,
The Government has all along endeavoured to promote, protect and support breastfeeding. The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) set up the Committee on Promotion of Breastfeeding (the Committee) in early April 2014 under the chairmanship of the Under Secretary for Food and Health. Members include representatives from relevant professional healthcare bodies, academia as well as representatives of the organisations that have participated in the promotion of breastfeeding. The Committee provides specific recommendations on strategies and action plans to strengthen the promotion, protection and support for breastfeeding. Its objectives are to enhance the sustainability of breastfeeding and promote breastfeeding as the norm for babycare widely accepted by the general public. My reply to the various parts of the question, in consultation with the Transport and Housing Bureau, the Department of Health (DH) and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is as follows.
(1) Government departments have been encouraged to provide babycare facilities in the public places under their management. In line with the policy, the LCSD endeavours to provide more babycare rooms at its existing and new venues for the convenience of the public. At present, there are 81 babycare rooms in LCSD venues. If there is no babycare room, venue staff will provide an appropriate place or space to meet the public's needs as far as practicable. The LCSD has also included babycare room as a standard provision. Wherever feasible, consideration will be given to providing babycare rooms in planning for major new leisure facilities or venue renovation works.
(2) In 2014, the Committee formulated a three-year work plan to enhance publicity and education on breastfeeding, further encourage the adoption of a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace policy and promote Breastfeeding Friendly Premises. The work plan has been jointly implemented by the Government and a number of organisations. With their concerted efforts over the past two years, some of the measures have achieved significant results. The key areas of work include:
(I) Breastfeeding Friendly Premises
The DH has been promoting Breastfeeding Friendly Premises in public places of the community, where breastfeeding mothers and their families feel welcome and are supported to breastfeed anytime, anywhere.
Among others, the DH and the Hong Kong Committee for the United Nations Children's Fund collaborated with the Hong Kong Catering Industry Association to introduce and promote Breastfeeding Friendly Premises measures to the catering industry in 2015. As at October 2016, more than 80 restaurants had implemented Breastfeeding Friendly Premises measures.
Moreover, the FHB issued letters to more than 470 private organisations and enterprises in June 2016 to encourage them to implement Breastfeeding Friendly Premises policy in public places owned or managed by them.
(II) Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace
To provide appropriate support for lactating mothers when they return to work and promote an inclusive culture for breastfeeding in the workplace, the FHB has been issuing advice on public health to individual government bureaux and departments since 2013, encouraging them to implement the Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace policy by putting in place the measures below so as to facilitate lactating staff to continue breastfeeding after returning to work:
(i) allowing lactation breaks (two breaks of about 30 minutes each during an eight-hour shift) to lactating staff for expression of breastmilk for at least one year after childbirth. Supervisors should discuss with the lactating staff who continue with breastfeeding beyond the first year to make flexible arrangements for lactation breaks;
(ii) providing a private space with a comfortable chair with table and an electric outlet for operating the breast pump; and
(iii) providing refrigerating facilities for safe storage of expressed breastmilk.
At present, over 75 bureaux and departments have implemented the policy.
As the largest employer in Hong Kong, the Government hopes to set an example in promoting the Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace policy and encourage private enterprises to implement the same policy.
(III) Publicity and education on breastfeeding
The DH has been actively promoting and supporting breastfeeding through different channels. These include:
(i) providing training for maternal and child health personnel and producing a training VCD on breastfeeding for their reference;
(ii) providing health information on breastfeeding for parents through workshops, production and distribution of educational materials such as booklets and videos, and webpage of the Family Health Service of the DH;
(iii) providing guidance and skill support for breastfeeding mothers through the Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs) and the breastfeeding hotline; and
(iv) organising publicity activities (e.g. showing of promotional videos on TV and buses and in MTR, advertising on bus bodies and attending media interviews) to enhance public awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding.
The DH has also produced and uploaded relevant guidelines such as Guide to Establishing Breastfeeding Friendly Premises, Employers' Guide to Establishing Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace and An Employee’s Guide to Combining Breastfeeding with Work onto its Family Health Service webpage for reference by the public as well as those organisations and public premises interested in implementing breastfeeding friendly measures.
Furthermore, the DH launched the Info for Nursing Mum App in February 2016 to provide relevant online information, including breastfeeding policy, breastfeeding news, FAQs on breastfeeding and community resources.
(IV) Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative
To echo the Baby Friendly Hospital (BFH) Initiative, a worldwide programme launched by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund, the Hospital Authority has been implementing the initiative in its eight public hospitals with maternity wards and encouraging them to become BFH in phases. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital was accredited internationally as Hong Kong’s first BFH in May 2016. The objective of the BFH Initiative is to remove elements obstructing breastfeeding in medical institutions, including hospitals, clinics and mother and baby centres, and to support more mothers to sustain breastfeeding through the provision of services and guidance.
In June 2016, the DH launched a pilot scheme of Baby-Friendly MCHC Accreditation in three MCHCs, namely, Sai Ying Pun MCHC, Kowloon City MCHC and Yaumatei MCHC. The target is to complete the accreditation of the pilot scheme within three years.
In the future, the Government will continue to work with the relevant parties and sectors in the community to implement the measures of the work plan.
(3) At present, the MTR Corporation Limited, franchised bus operators, some ferry operators, some non-franchised buses, some public light buses and some taxi owners/drivers, having regard to their operational needs, have installed closed circuit television (CCTV) systems with recording function in some of their vehicle or vessel compartments so that their staff can monitor the situation of the vehicle and vessel compartments through the systems with a view to providing timely assistance to passengers and handling emergencies, or enhancing services. Notices are generally put up in the vehicle or vessel compartments to inform passengers that CCTV systems have been installed. Trams are also installed with CCTV systems without recording function at the rear of all compartments to monitor passengers' access and provide assistance. In any case, public transport operators must comply with the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and make reference to the Guidance on CCTV Surveillance and Use of Drones published by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data if they have installed CCTV systems in their vehicle or vessel compartments.
Ends/Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:16
Issued at HKT 17:16
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