Director of Health attends Health Working Group Meeting of APEC Senior Officials' Meeting in Guangzhou (with photos)
******************************************************************************************
"China is the host of APEC in 2026. I am honoured to lead my colleagues from the DH of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) to attend the first HWG Meeting this year. We engaged in in-depth discussions with representatives from other APEC member economies on ways to enhance co-operation in public health. We also discussed how to mitigate the impact of health-related threats on the economy, trade and security of member economies. We are committed to promoting healthy and sustainable development in the region," Dr Lam said.
During the meeting, member economies exchanged views on topics including public health surveillance and early warning systems, immunisation, healthy ageing, mental health and the application of innovative technologies. The DH's representative will, in tomorrow's meeting, introduce the development direction of the next-generation public health surveillance technologies in Hong Kong with a view to enhancing preparedness against communicable diseases and safeguarding public health and wellbeing of citizens.
The DH has actively collaborated with and participated in APEC's public health initiatives. With the support of the National Health Commission and the Health Bureau of the HKSARG, the DH has promoted health collaboration and capacity building in the Asia-Pacific region, contributing to global public health.
"Under the principle of 'one country, two systems' and the staunch support of our country, the DH will continue to deepen professional exchanges and collaboration with other APEC members. Through multilateral collaboration, we will build consensus to jointly strengthen public health systems in the region. This will further leverage Hong Kong's role as a 'super connector' to help tell good stories of our nation and Hong Kong," Dr Lam said.
The HWG of APEC is a regional health forum dedicated to demonstrating the value of health to economic growth and development and to building awareness of the return on investment in health innovation. The goal of the HWG is to help reduce the impact of health-related threats to the economy, trade and security of member economies. The HWG aims to strengthen health systems to increase their efficiency, responsiveness and resilience to achieve and maintain universal health coverage.
Dr Lam will return to Hong Kong tomorrow (February 2) after attending the first two days of the meeting.
Ends/Sunday, February 1, 2026
Issued at HKT 17:12
Issued at HKT 17:12
NNNN
Photo
