Press Releases
Community involvement important in prevention of communicable diseases: SHWF
The Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong today (July 31) calls on the public to actively participate in the prevention of communicable diseases by improving their environmental and personal hygiene.
Speaking to the media after his visit to Tin Shui Wai Park and Tin Yiu Estate, Dr Yeoh said he was encouraged by the co-operation and concerted efforts of Government departments, private sector and the residents in Tin Shui Wai in containing mosquito problem in the area.
With more community involvement, Dr Yeoh was confident that the problem would be contained in the near future.
"In reducing the chance of mosquito breeding, the residents are in fact helping themselves to minimise the risk of a possible outbreak of dengue fever in this area.
"The Government cannot do it alone; we need the co-operation of the community to reduce the risk of any infectious diseases from spreading, not only for dengue or SARS. As you all know, healthy environment and good personal hygiene are both important elements in the prevention of communicable diseases," Dr Yeoh said.
Earlier, officials from the Housing Department, Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) had briefed and showed Dr Yeoh their work on vector control and surveillance in the Tin Shui Wai area.
Dr Yeoh also had a chance to meet with representatives of the Estate Management Advisory Committee of Tin Yiu Estate and district council members to exchange views on vector control work in their area.
"Although the ovitrap indices this year (monthly ovitrap index in June 2002 and June 2003 are 35.6 per cent and 16.8 per cent respectively while the area ovitrap index in Tin Shui Wai in June 2003 is 40.7 per cent) have gone down a bit compared to previous years, we must stay alert as the breeding situations may worsen quickly if not properly attended to. To protect the health of the public, we need the continued support of every individual and organisation in the community to eliminate the larval habitats.
" In this respect, we should keep up our awareness and more importantly, make it sustainable. We'll do more on public health education so that members of the public will know more about infectious diseases and preventive measures," he said.
Dr Yeoh noted the physical environment and the population concentration in Hong Kong had made the territory highly vulnerable for the spread of communicable diseases.
Apart from launching sustainable public education programme to promote awareness and alertness, Dr Yeoh said the Government would carry out a series of programmes including the improvements in the provisions of hardware and software in our public health system to better prepare ourselves for the future.
Some of these programmes are:
*About $400 million obtained to build new isolation rooms and wards in major acute hospitals for triaging fever patients as preventive measures against outbreak of infectious disease.
*Liaison with overseas organisations underway including inviting experts from US CDC to exchange views with Health, Welfare and Food Bureau officials. Once the framework is worked out, the Bureau will consult the LegCo Panel on Health Services and other stakeholders including the medical, academic and other professional sectors in developing the proposal of setting up a Hong Kong CDC type organisation.
*To enhance information technology (IT) and communications systems for the provision of real time information and data sharing for medical workers and administrators.
*To enhance formal and informal intelligence network with our neighbours on communicable diseases for early warning; will attend Guangdong, Macau and HK health authorities meeting in August and World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Manila in September.
*To enhance communication with various sectors of the community for view exchanges in disease prevention - has set off to meet representatives from various sectors in past few weeks including Tuen Mun Hospital staff and representatives from Public Doctors' Association.
*To enhance occupational health training for medical and health care workers.
*Other new improvement programmes will be carried out in appropriate timing and after consulting stakeholders.
End/Thursday, July 31, 2003
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