Beijing and Hong Kong share experiences and exchanges on health fronts (with photos)
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Having been held 14 times since 2008, the Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation thematic activity has served as an important link and platform for the two places to gather knowledge and cultivate talent with mutual benefits in the health realm. The opening ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, Gao Jian, and the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, in Beijing and Hong Kong respectively. The Symposium focused on the discussion of prevention and control measures against COVID-19, smart healthcare development, development of Chinese medicine, and provision of health-related services to the elderly.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Dr Lam shared the work and experiences in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic locally. He expressed the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government's sincere gratitude to the tremendous support of the Central Government, which provided large quantities of medical supplies and assisted in the swift construction of community isolation facilities. The medical experts team sent by the Central Government to Hong Kong provided valuable suggestions and assisted the HKSAR Government to adjust the strategy in fighting the pandemic and battling against the mutant strains in a proactive manner.
Dr Lam said, "Dovetailing with the national anti-epidemic direction, the HKSAR Government has responded to the COVID-19 epidemic development under the principles of science-based and targeted anti-epidemic measures, as well as proper management of risks and citizen-focused facilitation. The HKSAR Government has strived to implement the spirit in the speech made by President Xi Jinping on July 1 and uphold the core competitiveness of Hong Kong as an international city." He hoped that the two places continue to foster exchanges and discussion on a wide spectrum of public health issues under the arrangement of high-level symposium on health, so as to achieve positive outcomes in different areas of collaboration.
"In the opening year to fully and faithfully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, together with the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the DH will spare no efforts in comprehensively studying, understanding and implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress," Dr Lam said. He stressed that the DH will expedite the high quality development of medical and healthcare services to meet the diverse needs from members of the public in various health aspects, so as to safeguard citizens' health, enhance their happiness in daily life, and build a "Healthy Hong Kong".
The Symposium brought together medical and health experts in Beijing and Hong Kong. The Director of Health led representatives of experts in Hong Kong to discuss and exchange views with Beijing on the strategies in the prevention and control of infectious diseases and four thematic topics, namely smart healthcare, traditional medicines, innovation and technology, and elderly health. The Symposium facilitated the discussion on the development of medical and health services under the norm of prevention and control of COVID-19, in a bid to deepen the collaboration on health fronts between the two places.
Apart from briefing the participants on the experiences of anti-epidemic work locally, the DH representatives also introduced the primary healthcare services for the elderly in disease prevention and health promotion, as well as the progress in enhancing the safety and quality of Chinese medicines in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards Project launched in 2002 and future development of the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute which is now under construction.
Besides the DH and the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, the Beijing Hospitals Authority, the Hong Kong Hospital Authority and the Beijing Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine also joined the Symposium.
Ends/Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Issued at HKT 20:00
Issued at HKT 20:00
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