Better communication with Guangdong on infectious diseases

Senior officials from Hong Kong and Guangdong today (September 8) discussed ways to further enhance the strategies to prevent and control infectious diseases in the region.

The Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr E K Yeoh, headed the Hong Kong team in the meeting with the Director-General of the Health Department of Guangdong Province, Professor Yao Zhibin, and other officers from his department.

They reviewed the mechanism for reporting infectious diseases between Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, the exchange and sharing of programmes for public health officers, and enhancing collaboration on scientific and academic projects.

Both health authorities agreed to maintain the frequency of reporting for notifying SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) cases on a weekly basis. For other infectious diseases, the frequency of reporting will be once a month.

On the 15th of each month, the Guangdong health authority will transmit its infectious disease information to its Hong Kong counterpart via the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong.

For special public heath incidents, the frequency can be adjusted with mutual agreement. Both sides also agreed to make regular reviews of the communication mechanism with the aim of improving the system.

Both sides also agreed to enhance professional communication and experience sharing of infectious disease control and prevention among public health officers by arranging short-term attachment programmes. These programmes could cover subjects such as HIV voluntary counselling and testing, field epidemiology, microbiological laboratory service, and methadone treatment programmes for HIV.

In addition, Guangdong and Hong Kong will jointly hold an annual conference on infectious diseases to share professional experience.

In view of the increasing population flow in the region and the possible recurrence of SARS, both sides reached a consensus to hold a mock exercise in the near future in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau (subject to agreement by the Macau health authority) to test the effectiveness of the notification mechanism, and the ability of public health officers in preventing and controlling infectious diseases from spreading across the boundary.

"The meeting laid a solid foundation for strengthening further collaboration efforts between Hong Kong and Guangdong in the prevention of infectious diseases," Dr Yeoh said.

"With increasingly frequent travel between Guangdong and Hong Kong, we must join hands in the prevention and control of infectious diseases which know no physical boundary," he said.

Dr Yeoh said he looked forward to more frequent exchanges with his Mainland counterpart to enhance understanding of the overall strategies in the prevention and control of communicable diseases in Hong Kong and Guangdong.

End/Monday, September 8, 2003