Press Releases
SARS Expert Committee invites public submissions
The SARS Expert Committee is inviting written submissions from the public to provide information on issues relating to the areas under review.
Comprising seven overseas, two Mainland and two local experts, the SARS Expert Committee will work under the purview of the following terms of reference:
(1) To review the work of the Government, including the Hospital Authority, in the management and the control of the outbreak;
(2) To examine and review the capabilities and structure of the healthcare system in Hong Kong and the organization and operation of the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority in the prevention and management of infectious diseases such as SARS; and
(3) To identify lessons to be learnt, and to make recommendations on areas of improvements in order to better prepare our system for any future outbreaks.
The Expert Committee will have to submit a report on their findings and recommendations to the Chief Executive in September 2003.
To facilitate the work of the Expert Committee, members of the public are now invited to provide information on the SARS incident and on issues relevant to the terms of reference of the Committee, particularly on areas of improvement to the health care system, the prevention and management of infectious diseases, and lessons to be learnt to better prepare our system for any future outbreaks.
Written submissions in English or Chinese should be sent to SARS Expert Committee Secretariat, Room 1808, Murray Building, Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong, or by fax to 3150-8930, or by e-mail to sars_expertcom@hwfb.gov.hk.
Submissions received will be made available to the Expert Committee for consideration. Submissions should be marked "Confidential" if necessary. The closing date for submissions is June 30, 2003.
Meanwhile, the Committee Secretariat is now compiling relevant information for the experts and arranging a video/tele-conference shortly with the experts to make preparation for the formal meetings to be held from late June in Hong Kong. Experts will meet with parties closely involved in the SARS incident and site visits will also be arranged.
Two Mainland experts will join the deliberations of the Committee. They are Dr Zhong Nan-shan, Head of the Institute for Respiratory Disease in Guangzhou, and Dr Tang Xiao-ping, Director of No. 8 People Hospital in Guangzhou.
A list of Curricula Vitae of Members of the Expert Committee is at Annex.
1. Professor Sian Griffiths
President
Faculty of Public Health Medicine
The Royal Colleges of Physicians
United Kingdom
Senior Fellow / Senior Clinical Lecturer in Public Health
Oxford University
Visiting Professor
Oxford Brookes University
Former Director of Public Health
Oxford Regional Health Authority
2. Dr Meirion Evans
Senior Lecturer
Dept of Epidemiology, Statistics and Public Health,
University of Wales College of Medicine
United Kingdom
Honorary Regional Epidemiologist
PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (Wales)
United Kingdom
WHO SARS Expert Team Member
Perform an Assessment of SARS situation in Guangdong
Province in April and May 2003
3. Professor Harvey Fineberg
President
Institute of Medicine
National Academy of Sciences
United States of America
Former Provost
Harvard University
United States of America
Former Dean
Harvard School of Public Health
Harvard University
United States of America
4. Dr Jeffrey Koplan
Vice President for Academic Health Affairs
Emory University
United States of America
Former Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, United States of America
5. Sir Cyril Chantler
Senior Associate
The King's Fund
London
Chairman
Board of the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS
Trust
United Kingdom
Former Dean of the Guy's, King's College
United Kingdom
Former Professor of Paediatric Nephrology
St. Thomas' Hospitals' Medical and Dental School
United Kingdom
Former Non-Executive Director
Guy's/Lewisham Trust and Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Trust
United Kingdom
Former Unit General Manager
Guy's Hospital
United Kingdom
6. Dr Sherene Devanesen
President
Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators
Australia
Chief Executive
Peninsula Health
Victoria
Australia
7. Mr John Wyn Owen
Secretary
The Nuffield Trust
United Kingdom
Senior Associate
The Judge Institute of Management
University of Cambridge
Former Director General
New South Wales Health
Australia
Former Chairman
The Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council
Former Director of the NHS in Wales
United Kingdom
8. Professor Rosie Young
Former Chairman
Medical Council, Hong Kong
Former Pro-Vice-Chancellor
The University of Hong Kong
Former Head and Professor
Department of Medicine
The University of Hong Kong
9. Professor Lee Shiu-hung
Emeritus Professor of Community Medicine
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Former Director of Health
Hong Kong Government
Former Chairman and Professor
Department of Community Medicine
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Former Director
School of Public Health
Chinese University of Hong Kong
10.Dr Zhong Nan-shan
Head
Institute for Respiratory Disease in Guangzhou, China
Chief Member
Respiratory Committee of the Chinese Medical Association
Member
WHO Medical Advisory Panel
Leader
Expert Group on Infectious Atypical Pneumonia in Guangdong
11. Dr Tang Xiao-ping
Director
No.8 People Hospital in Guangzhou
Director
Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou
Professor
Medical School of Zhongshan University
Vice-chair
National Aids Clinical Advisory Panel
End/Thursday, June 12, 2003
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